Hello sifus,

I'm seriously a noob when i comes to property especially matters concerning legal. I'm currently letting go of my house (sub-sale) for rm275k.

The issue that we (myself and the buyer) have now is that we need to find a lawyer to draft/issue out the sub-sale agreement. The loan however, as usual, will be drafted by bank's panel lawyers. Some say that the bank's panel lawyer could also render assistance in issuing the sub-sale agreement but of course with different cost/price.

Roughly how much should the buyer fork out and what are the standard items/services which are being paid for? As a seller, what should I be aware off before signing the agreement?

Also as a seller, what are my other obligations? I know that RPGT is mandatory and I suddenly realized that I need to pay a 3% penalty fee to the current financier, Alliance Bank, due to early redemption for my loan. Will this lawyer (for the sub-sale agreement) advise me on these obligations?

Another issue I looked at is MRTA-I've self-financed my MRTA for the entire tenure of my loan. In view of the sub-sale, would I even get some sort of a refund from the insurer upon settlement/transfer of title to the new owner? Or is it considered gone? probably there are some info I missed out which were not clear and/or requires further clarification by sifus here. Hope you guys could help me figure out.

Thanks for your help..

Appreciate your advise Dario. Some of the earlier posts may related to some of the answers I seek. Interestingly, in one of your previous post, you have mentioned that the seller may “Authorise the purchaser's solicitor to act on you behalf ONLY in respect of assisting you in discharging the charge, and obtain the unencumbered original title from the bank for onward transmission to the purchaser's financier's solicitor (let's assume the purchaser will be taking a loan). They will also assist you by filling up the CKHT1A (and CKHT3) and proceed to file same at LHDN. You will not be charged full scaled fees, but the fees for Discharge of Charge : RM300 and CKHT 1A: RM300 are fixed and is normally charged in this kind of situations.”

Should this turn out as such, it’ll be great and Yes, I may save on Solicitor’s full scaled fees. But I guess its upon discretion of the said solicitor – he/she may reject my offer for this service, no? Will there be a need to issue a separate agreement for this ‘authorization’?

Fyi, the buyer has just initiate the loan application and we have principally agreed to use 1 lawyer to oversee the s&p and loan agreement. Will wait and see. Will definitely post more queries prior to appointment of solicitors.

RPGT is 2% flat – is it a typo error? I thought its 5% flat rate? Govt reduced the rate? As for MRTA, agreed that this is not a legal issue, I’ll take it up separately.

Bro Dario, you da man..thanks for your help. I think the process to dispose property may be quite challenging as you described here "...The 2% comes into play as the purchaser's solicitor must retain 2% of the purchase price in contemplation of paying RPGT on your behalf if you don't take the option of applying for exemption. I would advise you to apply for exemption, unless you have another property of higher value which you plan to dispose off in the near future"..oh geez, what have I got myself into haha.. i wouldn't have known bout this retention thingy, period! In my case, i would most likely apply for exemption as am not gonna dispose any props anytime soon.

The plan now is to go for 1 solicitor, and of course to find out whether he/she would be keen to assist me on discharge of charge, etc. would probably find out details on the 2% retention issue as well, to apply exemption and stuffs. Thanks again bro..will post more Qs soon.


P/S: Alamak, I was hoping that they revert the RPGT to 2% flat. well, in our dreams la..

Hi Dario,

Merry Christmas to you! After waiting for quite some time to finalize the loan (of the purchaser), things are in motion now and solicitor has been appointed to oversee the SPA & Loan Facility (1 solicitor for 2 agreements). From my previous post (page 6), I did touch on several queries/issues in which you've diligently assist.

To date, land search has been done, SPA has been drafted and shared to both Purchaser and Vendor (but yet to be signed). However, an 'unforeseeable' news came from the solicitor's office recently. As a vendor, the solicitor mentioned that I'm required to pay RM1000 for 'transfer of title'. This fee is compulsory since the land is a leasehold land and some form of 'consent' or 'approval' is required from the land office in order effect the transfer - the fee costs RM1000 and is payable to the land office. Again, as a Vendor, is this fee necessary? Is it listed somewhere in the Act? Is the fee of RM1000 correct / common? Being a noob, I'd rather take advise before I proceed to pay the said fees. Guess you can say that i'm a bit paranoid when it comes to money As a vendor, I thought that I have to pay the solicitor's fee for assisting me in discharging the current charge and RPGT. but it turns out that now I have to fork out other unexpected fees..

Related to the above, I'd also wish to seek advise on the following; (I understand that it might be wise to post these questions and seek answers to/from the solicitors directly).

1) Normally when can the solicitor finalize the SPA after it has been executed by both parties? i.e stamping, etc.
2) Is there some form of confirmation required by the developer to indicate that the title has been transfered to the Purchaser? if yes, how long does it take?
3) When is the soonest the land office could issue their consent on the transfer?
4) When can the current chargee bank to issue redemption statement?
5) How long does it take for Purchaser's bank to release redemption sum / balance payment to me?
6) When could the current chargee bank release the original title/ discharge of charge?
7) Is the land office required to register the MOT? How long does it take?
9) How long is the process to finalize discharge of charge? When should I permanently stop the current loan installment?

I understand that there no perfect answer for these, it all depends on how fast the processing can take place. Hope you could assist me this time!

Yep..they did not produce any form of doc/letter. They'll need the sum to allow the land office to procure the consent. A bit doubtful to me as I never heard of such sum to be paid. Based on your expertise/experience, is this situation normal? Will press for more answers when we meet the solicitor.

As they say , nowdays faster processing equals money but normally how long would the process (sub-sale) take to complete? Can I stop my current installment now? thanks bro!

Wow..now you are making me really nervous.. that's the fun part. learning process re legal is quite thrilling btw especially when we are caught off guard by these kinda issue. We are meeting the solicitor this Tuesday - will be interesting to hear out their answers on other queries too, which I've posted earlier.

Hi dario! After meeting the solicitor the other day, I have signed the S&P and was given the invoice incl detailed fees for each item. fyi, i'm disposing my property and have asked the solicitor to assist in filing Discharge of Charge and RPGT as well as to sort out the transfer of title to the Purchaser. Here is the breakdown of the invoice;

Legal Fees
Application of Consent of Transfer = RM300
Memo of Discharge of Charge/Deed Receipt & Reassignment = RM300
CKHT 1A & 3 = RM300
6% GST = RM54

Disbursement
Application fee for consent to transfer = RM50
CTC of title = RM50
Affirm SD = RM12
Stamp Duty on Discharge of Charge/R&R = RM10
Registration fee on Discharge of Charge/Revoke R&R = RM70
Transport charges & Allowance = RM200
Printing, photostating,correspondence,communication = RM100
Misc = RM50
Grand total = RM1,496

Personally, i think transport charges is a bit high (RM200). I prompt them and they said its a bit high as it'll cover the distance travelling (back & forth the land office, bank, etc) - apparently, the land office is far . Other than that, I have no idea. I even ask the solicitor whether the fees are negotiable. Guess what they responded? 'Sir, the fees are final and non-negotiable' Are the fees for each item acceptable, correct and in order based on your experience and SRO? Appreciate your help..

Haha. The RM1000 fee was a miscomm from my part. Via telconv with the solicitor, they did mention that RM1000 fee is somewhat a fee to transfer the title. When we met, they justified that 'all-inclusive fees' was in fact RM954 excl disbursement (RM1000 was an indicative figure). I did misinterpret it though. my bad . The property falls under Hulu Langat's land office; the bank & solicitor's office is in the same state (Selangor) but can be considered far. I guess its justifiable but will have a chat with the solicitor on this.

The solicitor did mention that the consent of transfer will take a maximum 5 months; a standard timeframe of 3 months (which I think is quite long, shocking!)

Hi Dario,

Its been a while. Wanted to sought your advise on the below quote submitted by the solicitors. My friend got a sweet deal on a new property (probably not so sweet looking after looking at the fees) with a loan of RM170k. The 30% discount is based on their offer since they'll be drafting the s&p as well. Appreciate you help whether the below is in accordance with SRO, is accurate and in order. Thanks buddy!

Based on scale fee under the Solicitors
For the 1st RM150,000.00 at 1% RM1,500.00
For the next RM20,000.00 at 0.7% RM 140.00
RM1,640.00
----------------
RM1,148.00
1/10 on Deed of Assignment RM 200.00
1/10 on Power of Attorney RM 200.00
RM1,548.00
6% service tax RM 92.88
----------------
RM1,640.88
Disbursements
(a) STAMP DUTY
1. Facility Agreement RM 850.00
2. Copies of Facility Agreement RM 30.00
3. Deed of Assignment RM 40.00
4. Power of Attorney RM 40.00
5. Statutory Declaration RM 30.00
-----------------
RM 990.00
(b) SEARCH
1. Land search RM 30.00
-----------------
RM 30.00
© REGISTRATION FEES
1. Power of Attorney RM 65.00
-----------------
RM 65.00
(d) OTHERS
1. Statutory Declaration by Borrower RM 30.00
2. Affirmation fees on SD RM 8.00
3. Purchase of documents RM 200.00
4. Transport to Land Office, Stamping
Office, High Court and etc. RM 150.00
4. Printing RM 50.00
6. Miscellaneous RM 50.00
-----------------
RM 488.00
Total Disbursement RM 1,573.00
-----------------
RM 3,213.88
=========

This post has been edited by Xforged: Mar 15 2011, 01:41 PM

thanks for the note bro the discount might be some form of personal arrangement made in lieu of the property deal. I've removed the discount portion for everyone's benefit. I agree that disbursement is a bit steep. As u pointed out, the reason is pretty obvious Lol, nonetheless, am bit concerned on the below fees.

1. Facility Agreement, RM 850.00 - Im sure this is justified but for RM850??
2. Land search RM 30.00 - The s&p legal fees (which is borne by the developer) would have covered land search. Why the double charge?
3. Power of Attorney RM 65.00 - Same as land search. Double charge.
4. Purchase of Documents RM 200.00 - Am sure tons of docs are prepared/vetted by solicitors. but what will be procured for RM200?
5. Transport to Land Office, Stamping Office, High Court and etc. RM 150.00 - A bit steep I think, considering that every related offices is within the same state (except probably High Court).

Lol, I'm no mind reader, certainly not a mind freak probably share the same sentiment as yours. at the end, its not the highs or the lows of the fees.. its a matter of principle behind it. As far as disbursements goes (and being Malaysian myself ) I would think its just and 'fair' given the magnitude of such requests to the solicitors. After all, its probably a win-win. Purchasers wants it fast, Solicitors wants to get it done. Strike a balance and arrive amicably at mid-point with some consideration is fine, i think. Personally, I think its best not to ponder over it as long as principles were adhered.

Anyway, I shall advise my friend to put an eye on item 2 & 3. For item 4 & 5, what can I say My friend could find out more from them but I'm sure the house will win! Really, thanks Dario for putting it all together as always, cheers and have a good day