Joint Management Body & Strata Title

When is the Residents Association of Suria Kinrara forming the Joint Management Body(JMB)? According to the Building and Common Property(Maintenance and Management) Act 2007, the developer (Sentosa Restu) and the purchasers must form the Joint Management Body within twelve (12) month from the date of hand over of the vacant possession. The official handover date is 11 October 2010. Therefore, the JMB should be formed by the 11 October 2011. This is less than two months away.

At this point in time, the status of both JMB and the Residents Association(RA) is still not clear. Purchasers have a duty to ensure legal compliance and have the rights to question the developer, as well as the protem office bearer of the RA.

The relevant section of the law is appended below:-

Building and Common Property
(Maintenance and Management) Act 2007
Act 663

Part III – Management of Building or Land Intended for Subdivision Into Parcels 4. Establishment of a Joint Management Body

(1) Where a building or land intended for subdivision into parcels has been completed –

	(a) before the commencement of this Act and vacant possession of the parcels has been delivered by the developer to purchasers but the management corporation has not come into existence, a Joint Management Body shall be established consisting of the developer and the purchasers upon the convening of the first meeting not later than twelve months from the commencement of this Act; and
	(b) on or after the commencement of this Act, a Joint Management Body shall be established consisting of the developer and the purchasers upon the convening of the first meeting not later than twelve months from the date of delivery of vacant possession of the parcels to the purchasers.

The strata title is another issue not addressed accordingly.  The developer is duty bound to submit application for Strata Title six (6) months after the handover of vacant possession. According to reliable source, this is not done yet.

STRATA TITLES ACT 1985
ACT 318
(Amendment enforced from 12 April 2007)

PART II - APPLICATION FOR SUBDIVISION OF A BUILDING OR LAND

8. Circumstances in which it is compulsory for a proprietor to apply for subdivision of a building or land

(1) The proprietor of any alienated land on which there is a completed building capable of being subdivided under section 6 shall, within the period specified in subsection (2), apply in accordance with section 10 for the subdivision of the building if at any time he has sold or agreed to sell any parcel in such building to any person.

(2) The period within which the requirement of subsection (1) shall be complied with is as follows:

(a) in the case of a building completed on a date after the commencement of this subsection-

(i) if the sale of, or agreement to sell, any parcel of the building, or the first such sales or agreements, took place before that date, the period is six months from that date;

(ii) if the sale of, or agreement to sell, any parcel of the building, or the first of such sales or agreements, took place after that date, the period is six months from that date of the sale or agreement or the first of such sales or agreements;

Hence, the directors of Sentosa Restu (Talam, now called TRINITY) have committed offences under the Act. Is the Ministry of Housing and  Local Government (the Ministry)  going to initiate action against the developer to protect the interest of the purchasers?

If the Ministry is not acting, is the RA going to act on behalf of the purchasers?

Sentosa Restu (M) Sdn. Bhd. still has about fifty(50) units of the apartments unsold. They have appointed an agent, KIM Realty, to sell the units. All prospective buyers should demand strata title before signing the S&P to purchase any of the unsold units. Don't be a victim of Talam's tactics.