Never leave your strata title in third party's hands, says lawyer

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 16): Getting their property’s strata title might incur extra cost for owners, but a legal practitioner has advocated that property buyers not to wait too long to secure their strata title.

"You will never know what the third party will do with the strata title if you leave it in their hands," warned Girubaharan Retnasigamany, an experienced lawyer from Teh & Azlina Advocates and Solicitors.

He said there were fraud cases where owners who did not claim their strata title when it was issued ended up with their units being sold to another buyer.

The cost incurred when securing a strata title includes stamp duty on the memorandum of transfer and legal fees.

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Girubaharan was addressing the audience at a public forum titled “Strata Living in Harmony” today.

Organised by the Malaysian Institute of Professional Property Managers (MIPPM), the half-day public forum is supported by EdgeProp.my, who is also the exclusive media partner.

On the same topic, MIPPM deputy president Adzman Shah Mohd Ariffin, who is also the moderator of a subsequent question and answer session, noted that the owners who did not claim their strata titles will face problems in protecting their rights in the future.

"They will only be seen as the beneficiary proprietor of the property, which means in the management corporation and joint management body meeting, they can only attend but do not have rights to vote or be chosen as committee member," he explained.