Locked out over maintenance fees? Court says JMBs can’t do that

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 27 — Joint management bodies (JMBs) cannot bar owners from their own units over unpaid maintenance charges, the Court of Appeal has ruled, news outlet Free Malaysia Today reported.

The regulations let a JMB deactivate defaulters’ access cards, require them to sign a register when seeking help to enter or leave the building, and suspend their use of common facilities and services, but the court found nothing in them that lets a JMB keep an owner out of his or her own unit.

“The sanction it authorises is an inconvenience and a record. It presupposes entry. It does not authorise exclusion,” Justice Ong Chee Kwan, who delivered the broad grounds, was quoted as saying in court yesterday.

The ruling came in an appeal by SL Land Sdn Bhd and Foong Wei Ching against the JMB managing the Sentral Bazar shopping mall in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, which had refused to let the company’s directors and authorised agents into their units.

The three-member bench chaired by Datuk Alwi Abdul Wahab, with Datuk Shahnaz Sulaiman and Ong, unanimously allowed the appeal.

The court set aside a High Court ruling that had upheld the JMB’s power to impose conditions on entry by defaulters under the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015.

Ong said barring an owner from entering his or her own unit was a far more drastic step than the measures specified in the regulations and interfered with the owner’s right to use and enjoy the property.

He said clear legal provisions would be needed to confer such a power, but none existed.

The court declared unlawful the JMB’s refusals to let SL Land’s directors and authorised agents enter their units on May 4 and June 20, 2023.

It also ruled that requiring the company’s shareholders to be present or consent before entry was not authorised by law.

The judges granted an injunction stopping the JMB from blocking access, while preserving its powers under the regulations and reasonable, non-discriminatory security arrangements that apply to all proprietors.

They set aside the High Court’s RM30,000 costs order and awarded SL Land nominal damages, as the company had not proved any substantial loss.

The JMB was ordered to pay RM50,000 in costs for proceedings in both courts.

Lawyers Ivanpal Singh Grewal, Harwinder Kaur and S. Nisha appeared for SL Land and Foong, while K. Muralidharan and Ahmad Amir Mukhlis represented the JMB.

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布城，10月27日讯——据新闻媒体《今日自由马来西亚》报道，上诉法院裁定，联合管理机构（JMB）不能因业主未缴纳物业管理费而禁止其进入自己的单位。

相关规定允许联合管理机构停用违约者的门禁卡，要求他们在寻求帮助进出建筑物时登记，并暂停他们使用公共设施和服务，但法院认为这些规定中没有任何条款允许联合管理机构阻止业主进入自己的单元。

“它所授权的制裁只是带来不便并留下记录。它以入境为前提。它并没有授权驱逐，”昨天在法庭上，宣读判决理由的王志坤法官如是说。

该裁决源于 SL Land Sdn Bhd 和 Foong Wei Ching 对森美兰州汝来市 Sentral Bazar 购物中心的管理机构 JMB 提出的上诉，该机构拒绝让该公司董事和授权代理人进入他们的单位。

由拿督阿尔维·阿卜杜勒·瓦哈卜（Datuk Alwi Abdul Wahab）担任主席的三人法官席，以及拿督沙纳兹·苏莱曼（Datuk Shahnaz Sulaiman）和翁（Ong）一致同意上诉。

法院推翻了高等法院的一项裁决，该裁决维持了联合管理机构（JMB）根据 2015 年分层地契管理（维护和管理）条例对违约者进入施加条件的权力。

Ong表示，禁止业主进入自己的单元房比法规中规定的措施要极端得多，而且干涉了业主使用和享受房产的权利。

他表示，需要明确的法律条文来赋予这种权力，但目前还没有这样的条文。

法院宣布联合管理机构 (JMB) 于 2023 年 5 月 4 日和 6 月 20 日拒绝 SL Land 的董事和授权代理人进入其单位的行为违法。

法院还裁定，要求公司股东在场或同意后方可进入的做法没有法律授权。

法官颁布禁令，禁止联合管理机构阻止通行，同时保留其在适用于所有业主的法规和合理、非歧视性安全安排下的权力。

他们撤销了高等法院 30,000 令吉的诉讼费判决，并判给 SL Land 象征性赔偿，因为该公司没有证明任何实质性损失。

JMB被责令支付两家法院诉讼费用共计50,000令吉。

律师 Ivanpal Singh Grewal、Harwinder Kaur 和 S. Nisha 代表 SL Land 和 Foong 出庭，而 K. Muralidharan 和 Ahmad Amir Mukhlis 代表 JMB 出庭。

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