Rights Of Strata Owner Against the Joint Management Body In Malaysia

The Joint Management Body (JMB) is a statutory corporation body governed under the Strata Management Act 2013. In 2012, Parliament passed the Strata Management Bill and the Strata Management Act 2013 was gazetted on 8.2.2013. The Strata Management operational came into effect from 1.6.2015. We will explain the rights of strata owner against the Joint Management Body In Malaysia in this article.

The Joint Management Body (JMB) has a legal personality as being a statutory corporation body, which means that they can sue or be sued by a third party concerning the failure to perform their duties and responsibilities. They are a corporate body with perpetual succession having its common seal for any legal commitments and no one can use the seal of JMB unless with the approval of the Joint Management Committee (JMC). The JMB shall be deemed to be dissolved within 3 months from the date of the first meeting of the Management Corporation (MC). Thus, the formation of JMB is only effective if the MC has yet to be formed.

In this article, we serve the purpose to highlight the clear recourse for residents in a Strata Building due to the unreasonable act of the Joint Management Body (JMB).

The formation of JMB and JMC

The developers are required to establish JMB to hand over all the duties and responsibilities, to whom they are entrusted with managing and maintaining a strata building after the parcel has been delivered to the respective purchaser.

Whereas, the appointment of the Joint Management Committee (‘JMC’) is required to perform the day-to-day affairs on behalf of JMB. The JMB must be established within 12 months from the date of vacant possession was delivered. In this situation, the developers are required to convene the first Annual General Meeting (AGM). Hence, all the parcel purchasers are given the written notice 14 days before the first AGM in establishing this corporate statutory body, JMB.

Joint Management Body (‘JMB’):- developers, parcel purchasers

Joint Management Committee (‘JMC’):- original proprietor of the land and registered parcel purchasers (those who have received the strata titles issued by the local authority).

Duties and responsibilities of Joint Management Body (”JMB”)

The duties and responsibilities are laid out under sec 21(1) of Strata Management Act 2013 as follows:-

To properly maintain and manage the building or land intended for subdivision into parcels and the common property and keep it in a state of good and serviceable repair;
To determine and impose the charges to be deposited into the maintenance account for the purpose of the proper maintenance and management of the buildings or lands intended for subdivision into parcels and the common property;
To determine and impose the contribution to the sinking fund to be deposited into the sinking fund account for the purpose of meeting the actual or expected expenditure;
To effect insurance according to the SMA 2013 or to insure against such other risks as the parcel owners may by special resolution direct;
To comply with any notice or order given or made by the local authority or any competent public authority requiring the abatement of any nuisance/ordering repairs or other work to be done in respect of the common property;
To prepare and maintain a register of all parcel owners of the buildings or land intended for subdivision into parcels under SMA 2013
To ensure that the accounts required to be maintained by the JMB under the SMA are audited, and to provide audited financial statements for the information to its members;
To enforce the by-laws; and
To do such other things as may be expedient or necessary for the proper maintenance and management of the buildings or lands intended for subdivision into parcels and the common property.

Power of Joint Management Body (‘‘JMB’’)

The Power of Joint Management Body are distilled under sec 21(2) of Strata Management Act 2013 as follows:-

To collect the charges from the parcel owners in proportion to the allocated share units of their respective parcels;
To collect the contribution to the sinking fund from the parcel owners;
To authorize expenditure for carrying out of the maintenance and management of the buildings or land intended for subdivision into parcels and the common property;
To order given by the local authority or any other competent public authority;
To purchase, hire or otherwise acquire movable property for use by the parcel owners in connection with their enjoyment of the common property;
To employ or arrange and secure the services of any person or agent to undertake maintenance and management of the common property of the building or land intended for subdivision into parcels;
To make additional by-laws for the proper maintenance and management of the buildings or land intended for subdivision into parcels and the common property; and
To do all things reasonably necessary for the performance of its duties under the SMA 2013 and the enforcement of the by-laws.

What rights do you have as a resident & Who you should complain to?

It is essential to note that JMB must strictly comply with the corporate procedures accordingly to the regulated provisions in the Strata Management Act 2013. In the event of non-compliance of JMB, the management decisions are void. The core duties of JMB are to keep the maintenance of the Strata Building and common properties running. There are 2 types of fees charged on the stratified residents in the building, namely:-

Maintenance fee (ie: Cleaning, Security, Lift Service, Facilities, Water and Electricity utilized to run the building & Payments for the Management and Administration staff in the building)
Sinking Fund (ie: Recurrence costs of Cleaning Services, Security Services, Life Services- 10 % of the maintenance fees)

The Joint Management Body (before the issuance of Strata Title) or Management Corporation (after the issuance of Strata Title) is responsible to collect and manage the funds of the Strata Building. Being part of the residents in the building, you are legally obliged to pay the maintenance fee and sinking fund.

However, in the situation that your maintenance fee is mischarged, you are entitled to question your management body(JMB/MC) by reviewing the statement of accounts. If they refuse to review the accounts statement, you can apply for a review with the Commissioner of Buildings (COB). In this situation, the COB will instruct the JMB to appoint a property manager to recommend the appropriate sum payable of maintenance fee. The COB will then determine the sum payable as he thinks reasonable.

Alternatively, Strata Management Tribunal (SMT) is empowered to hear the dispute regarding the non-compliance of the respective management body, as enunciated in the 4^th Schedule of Strata Management Act 2013. The conditions of the claim are distilled as follows:-

Claims sought must NOT exceed RM 250,000;
No particular claims have brought before the Tribunal; and
If the same claim has been struck out previously/ withdrawn by the Tribunal, the same claim can be filed in Tribunal.

In accordance with section 48 of the Strata Management Act 2013,

– subsection (1) provides that ‘‘A developer shall, during the preliminary management period and subject to the provisions of this Act, be responsible to maintain and manage properly the subdivided building or land, and the common property’’.

– subsection (4) provides that ‘‘Any developer who fails to comply with the subsection (1) commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding RM 250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both’’.

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