recently i rent a condo from a house owner thru an agent. however, the agent claims that i need to pay for the contract fee. when i asked most of my colleagues, they said the agent should absorb the cost? which is true? pls help to explain further here. TQ

Can you elaborate further what u mean by contract fee?

Is the the tenancy agreement fee?

You just tell him wait lah...Owner will pay..

tenant pay.
in some state, such as selangor, johore, perak, Tenant pay for the fees.

this fee inclusive of preparation of contract, stamping fees, which should be less than rm 200

Tenant pays for stamping fees. Although you may argue that actual stamping fee imposed by the Revenue Office is peanuts, it actually encompasses the drawing up of the agreement (though agent would have probably downloaded it for free somewhere) and agent's miscellaneous expenses (petrol, phone calls).

This post has been edited by overthemoon: Sep 11 2009, 03:33 PM

Obviously Tenant pays for contract preparation fees + stamping fees.

If you not happy, you can always go to a lawyer.
They will charge you 1/4 of your rental amount + miscellaneous expenses which normally amounts to hundreds.

Agent charge u RM100-200 considered cheap already.

I will ask my tenant to pay.
If they don't pay, will ask them go to somewhere else.

i ask tenant pay, incl stamp dutie.

no need to ask...its in the law...tenant have to prepare everything. 'contract' is actually known as tenancy agreement.

tenant need hire lawyer to prepare, pay for it, and let owner sign & keep a copy.

then my landlord i think is the nicest person as during the time i sign tenancy agreement , all those fees bear by her. i just only have to pay the deposit for 3 months rental + electricity + water bill deposit

too bad...i need to pay for that....as said by agent and tenant refuse to pay for this as well

There is no fix rules in absorbing any cost. Different state has different "Trend". In my state Sarawak, it is bear by the owner regarding what cost it is.
It will totally depends on your negotiation with the owner who should absorb the cost.

yup, kl and selangor area is pay by tenant