BASED on National House Buyers Association (HBA) statistics, problems related to apartments and condominiums form almost 50% of complaints received by owners in 2005 and the bulk concerns the non-issuance of strata titles and management problems. HBA secretary general Chang Kim Loong tells BAVANI M why this happens. 

IN a public display of discontent, several hundred residents from a middle-class condominium in Jalan Kelang Lama protested outside their homes recently.  

Some of the key members of the Bukit OUG Condominiums Residents’ Association who took on the developer and won.

The issue? Not rampant water meter theft and certainly not Jalan Kelang Lama’s perpetual traffic jams.  

The placards carried by the people said it all: “We want Justice!” “We want transparency!” 

They were displeased with the lack of transparency by the management company hired by the developer to manage the place.  

The residents of Bukit OUG Condominiums, one of the biggest in Kuala Lumpur, were not happy they were not allowed to examine the accounts.  

Residents Association president Adrian Young said that the company had been managing the place for three years and not once had the residents been allowed to look at the books to see if funds were being managed properly.  

Gicquel feels short-changed.

To make matters worse, the management company has been deemed illegal.  

After much hue and cry, the RA was finally given the green light by the Lembaga Penilai, Pentaksir Dan Ejen Harta Tanah Malaysia to temporarily manage the condominiums as owners of the units, provided they appoint a registered valuer to professionally manage Bukit OUG Condominiums. 

“It is like facing a David against Goliath situation,” said Young after being told the good news recently. 

“This is especially true, considering no one wanted to help us.  

“The friction had caused a lot of anxiety and unrest among residents and this was mainly due to essential services slowly breaking down and, also, the security of the complex beginning to show signs of slacking,” explained Young.  

While the Bukit OUG condo residents have been given the right to manage their own property, their problems are far from over. 

The developer has become insolvent and liquidators have been appointed to go after the funds, if there are any left. 

The dream of obtaining strata titles for their properties seem like a distant one, as now without the developer, the onus now lies on residents to apply for it. 

In another part of Kuala Lumpur, Law Siew Kin and Jean-Yves Gicquel are also facing similar problems in their Teratai Mewah Condominium in Setapak.  

Law, 57, and Gicquel, 51, are also complaining about the lack of transparency in the management company hired to manage their property.  

Young said the friction caused a lot of anxiety to Bukit OUG residents.

Some of their concerns include lack of communication, poor maintenance and lack of security. 

“I feel short-changed,” complained Law.  

“This was supposed to be my dream home. It was close to my child’s school, and it was near work. 

“I feel cheated. We are not getting what we paid for,” added Gicquel. 

Both Bukit OUG and Teratai Mewah owners and a whole lot more people out there are fighting for their strata titles, a document that will at the end of the day give them ultimate ownership and the right to manage their own properties.  

National House Buyers Association (HBA) secretary-general Chang Kim Loong said: “Out of 38,315 owners at 245 projects who lodged complaints with HBA last year, 29% concerned the non-issuance of strata titles while 23% involved management and maintenance problems.  

“All this boils down to the non-issuance of strata titles, and most complaints target developers who either delay filing the application or do not apply at all.”  

Chang also explained some of the reasons why developers delay the application, saying these include the lack of enforcement, the lack of complaints, and that the fees have not been allocated. 

DAP National Consumer Affairs Bureau secretary Khong Chee Seng said the main reason behind the delay in applying for strata titles by developer was also due to the lucrative fees brought when managing such properties. 

“Property management is a lucrative business in Kuala Lumpur as more stratified properties are being built to accommodate city folks and the shortage of land doesn’t help either.  

“It is their ‘Golden Egg.’ The funds generated from the consent and maintenance fees are simply too attractive to give up,” he said.  

“It’s a cash cow to them and this is where abuse occurs. 

“Why do you think most of the grouses are about the lack of communication, transparency and accountability?” added Chang. 

“You have to lodge a complaint with the co-operative development ministry on the strata titles issue or else no action will be taken, as there is still no system to monitor the compliance of strata title applications,” he said, adding that the onus is on the owners to do so.  

Khong, on the other hand, feels that the Lembaga Penilai, Pentaksir Dan Ejen Harta Tanah Malaysia should insist that Residents’ Associations be formed in stratified properties and that it should work together with management of the property prior to issuance of strata titles.  

“There should be a check and balance, as only then owners would take interest in their properties and the authorities should encourage it to prevent mismanagement and lack of transparency. 

“At the end of the day, it would eliminate a lot of social problems,” he said.