Have you ever come across the term “Perfection of Transfer (“POT”)?
Once a Purchaser buys a property (i.e house, land and any other buildings) does the purchaser makes him or her a definite and legitimate owner/ purchaser fter execution of the Sale and Purchase Agreement? The answer can be yes and no at the same time. The Purchaser might be the owner/purchaser but he or she may not be the definite owner/purchaser until and unless his or her name is registered in the Original indivifual/Strata Title by the respective Land Office. One of the pre-requisite requirements to register the owner/purchaser’s name provided in the National Land Code 1965 (Act 56) (‘NLC”) is to execute Form 14A (known as “Borang Pindahmilik”) (hereinafter referred to as “the said Form”). The Purchaser is required to execute and later, adjudicate the said Form at the respective Land office and this is a definite way of procing the legal ownership. In the event that the Purchaser buy any property that is still under Master Title, he or she might not require to execute Form 14A. Master title refers to a title that represents the entire development/ projects including all the common and shared areas, registered under the Developer/Proprietor’s name. Such title definitely not a final title in which it requires to be sub-divided into individual Title(s)/Strata Title(s). Once the Master Title has been sub-divided and the subsequent title i.e Individual Title has been issued, the next procedure i.e to complete the registration of transferring ownership over a property from the Developer to the Purchaser. This is called Perfection of Transfer (hereinafter referred to as “POT”).
Procedure(s) for POT
POT’s procedure can be simply divided into 2 main stages; that is processing stage and the registration stage[1].
Firstly, the Purchaser and the Developer are required to execute the Form 14A[2], a legitimate instrument which is governed under the NLC to affect any transfer. Then, the Developer will return the duly executed Form 14A together with the Original Individual/ Strata Title and with any other relevant documents prerequisite for the registration process later. Upon execution by both parties, adjudication of Form 14A will take place. The appointed Solicitor shall then submit the Form 14A for adjudication at the Lembaga Hasil Dalam Malaysia (LHDNM) in order to determine the amount of the stamp duty payable by the Purchaser. The amount of stamp duty is calculated based on the value of the Property as per the Sale and Purchase Agreement (i.e “Ad Volarem Dury”). Once Adjudication Notice is issued by LHDNM, the Purchaser will have thirty (30) days to make the payment in order to avoid any penalty imposed by the LHDNM. Be that as it may, the Purchaser is also entitled to get an exemption on. The stamp duty fees based on any exemption give by the LHDNM (do not forget to have your solicitor advise as this matter!). The whole processing stage will take between two(2) to six(6) months depending on among others the execution and returning of the documents by the Developer and the adjudication process.
Here comes the second stage of the procedure, i.e registration stage. The appointed solicitor will submit the duly stamped Form 14A at the respective Land Office for registration together with the following documents[3]:
- Original Individual/Strata Title
- Certified copy of the your’ NRIC
- Developer’s Identificatin documents (Form 24/Form 49/ any other required form by the Land Office)
- Copy of current Quit Rent and Assessment Receipt duly paid
Once all the above documents have been compiled, the Land Office shall proceed with the registration process and will notify the solicitor as soon as the registration process is completed. The whole process of registration will take around seven (7) days up to one (1) month (depending on the Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) of the land office). Soon as the Purchaser’s name is registered, he or she becomes the legitimate owner of the property!
What about your financier/bank’s right against your Property? We will soon provide with the complementary process usually performed together with POT, called the “Perfection of Charge (“POC”) stay tune!
Prepared by,
Nur Hafizah Abdullah
MESSRS MISYAIL OTHMAN & CO
[1] Registering Property in Malaysia, https://rehdainstitute.com/registering-property-in-malaysia/
[2] Section 215 of the National Land Code 1965
[3] Transfer ownership of strata titles or be fined, https://www.hba.org.my/articles/ipropt/transfer.htm
