• The sale and purchase of property (housing accommodation) which is under construction from a property developer is governed by the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act, 1966; or
• The sale and purchase of completed property from a property developer.

• Sub-sale purchase is between the buyer and the owner; it is by way of private contract where the parties are free to dictate their respective terms and conditions.

• Detailed particulars of the buyer and the seller;
• Details of the property as specified in the Issue Document of Title (IDT);
• The purchase price and the mode of payment;
• Payment of the deposit, normally 10% of the purchase price;
• Normally the time frame to pay the entire purchase price is within 3 months free of interest (“Completion Date”) plus another one month extension period (“Extended Completion Date”) with interest at a mutually agreed percentage payable to the seller;
• If the buyer fails to pay within the time frame, the deposit paid will be forfeited by the seller and the SPA rescinded;
• Inspection of the property and listing of any fixtures and fittings (if applicable);
• The time and manner to hand over the property to the buyer; and
• The remedy for any breach and liquidated damages for failures by either party.

Once detailed terms of the SPA have been agreed, the buyer and seller will sign:

• The SPA;
• Form 14A under the National Land Code, 1965 (NLC) (for property with individual title); or
• Deed of Assignment (DOA) (for property without individual title).

2. STAGES OF REGISTERING PROPERTIES

 

There are 2 main stages in the process of registering property in Malaysia (Diagram 1).
 

These stages are geared towards registration of property (land and building) using Memorandum of Transfer - Form 14A at the relevant Land Office / Registry in compliance with the NLC.

Diagram 1 - Flowchart of Registering Property with Title

Note:

• Valuation and Property Services Department / Jabatan Penilaian dan Perkhidmatan Harta is established under the Ministry of Finance to advise the Government on valuation of real estate, property development and management.

2A. PROCESSING STAGE

• Form 14A / DOA will be submitted to Stamp Office / RSC for adjudication.

Submission for Adjudication

I. Form 14A

II. Deed of Assignment

• Valuation by JPPH is part of the stamping process by Stamp Office / RSC for cases where valuation is required.
• Upon receipt of the application for valuation from the Stamp Office / RSC, JPPH will process the application and a valuation report will be prepared and subsequently sent to the Stamp Office / RSC.

• The Stamp Office / RSC will issue a Notice of Assessment either manually or online through STPH / STAMPS.
• The Notice of Assessment will indicate the stamp duty payable for the transfer of property.
• The rate of chargeable stamp duty will depend on the value of the property as prescribed by the Stamp Act, 1949, as follows:

• Payment must be made to the Collector of Stamp Duty through the Stamp Office / RSC within30 days from the date of the Notice of Assessment via the following:-
  • Electronically via Financial Processing Exchange (FPX); or
  • At the Stamp Office / RSC by:
  - Bank Draft; or
  - Client’s Account Cheque; or
  - Postal Order; or
  - Money Order; or
  - Cash.

A penalty will be imposed for payment exceeding 30 days from the date of the Notice of Assessment as follows:

The Stamp Office / RSC requires the following documents:

• Original Notice of Assessment and Form 14A / DOA;
• Form PDS 3;
• Bank Draft / Client’s Account Cheque / Postal Order / Money Order / Cash; and
• Payment by Setem Hasil which shall not exceed RM 500.00.

Diagram 2 - JPPH Workflow Valuation Process

2B. REGISTRATION STAGE

For registration of property, submission of the duly stamped Form 14A at the Land Office / Registry must be accompanied with:

• Original IDT (Issue Document of Title);
• Certified copies of the buyer’s and seller’s NRIC / passport; or
• Company Memorandum and Articles of Association, Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) Company Search, Company Resolution, Return of Allotment of Shares - Form 24, List of Register of Directors, Managers and Secretaries - Form 49;
• Fees as prescribed by the Land Office / Registry;
• A copy of current Quit Rent and Assessment Receipt.

Checklist for registration of transfer of property at Kuala Lumpur Land Registry : (for landed property with individual title)

• The Land Administrator will endorse the name of the buyer in the Register Document of Title (RDT).
• The RDT is kept in the strong room at the Land Office / Registry itself.
• The Land Office / Registry will subsequently issue a new IDT to the buyer within 1 working day from the date of submission.

All Land Offices / Registries in Peninsular Malaysia are committed to issue the new IDT within the specified time frame.

Generally it takes 1 working day for registering of property. The process of registering property at the Kuala Lumpur Land Registry is shown in Diagram 4.

Diagram 3A presents the workflow of the registration process at Kuala Lumpur Land Registry (for consent to transfer involving leasehold property).

ASSIGNMENT OF PROPERTY
(for property without individual title)

• No registration is required for properties without individual titles simply because the Land Office / Registry does not have records of individual properties until the individual titles are issued.
• Properties without individual titles can be sold or change hands by means of a document called the Deed of Assignment (“DOA”).
• A DOA is a legal instrument used as a means of conveyance of rights to property whereby the Seller (“Assignor”) assigns his rights and title to the property to the Buyer (“Assignee”).
• By the DOA, the Seller’s rights, interest and title to the property as enshrined in the SPA, usually called the Principal SPA (between the First Purchaser, the Developer and / or Proprietor) is assigned to the Assignor.
• Once the DOA is duly executed and stamped, the Assignee acquires legal rights and title to the property assigned. The only difference is that it is not registered at the Land Office / Registry.
• The DOA has to be adjudicated in a similar manner as for property with title but instead of Form 14A, the original copy of the DOA is submitted together with Form PDS 15.

Diagram 3- Workflow of Registration Process at Kuala Lumpur Land Registry

(for landed property with individual title)

Diagram 3A - Workflow of Registration Process at Kuala Lumpur Land Registry

[for consent to transfer involving property with restriction-in-interest/leasehold (if required)]

3. CONCLUSION

The initiatives taken have resulted in the following continuous improvements across all government agencies involved as stated:

• Duration of the transfer of property generally takes 2 working days for Standard Property;
• Simplified procedures via online system;
• Easy tracking and traceability of the status of stamping process;
• Cost efficient; and
• Integrity of the system enhanced.

Further to the improvements made, Stamp Office / RSC has embarked on enhancing STAMPS to further improve the stamping process of instruments related to transfer of property.

The Land Office / Registry is moving towards simplified and standard forms for land related transactions to be adopted by all states in Malaysia.

This joint effort by the public and private sectors as well as experts in their respective fields contributed in improving the delivery system.

For more information, please visit PEMUDAH website.