and any tips or pitfalls to watch out for?

when i buy i think lawyer is very important as he needs to check everything, but when selling i am considering not using a lawyer as i basically just need to make sure money is in my account and just read snp properly.

legal fees held very artificially high by government and i know others that avoid using lawyers when selling.

Hi Kalai,

i know most of the sellers will use the same lawyer appointed by the buyers. So it will reduce the selling cost, but there is a risk also!

It depends whether u want to cut cost or reduce the risk by appointing your own lawyer.

that is basically like not using a lawyer at all because u r using someone who is acting only for buyers' interest. lawyer cannot act for two parties at once.

i didn't realise that most transaction are done this way.

thanks for the info.

Wayne Hor wrote:
Hi Kalai,

i know most of the sellers will use the same lawyer appointed by the buyers. So it will reduce the selling cost, but there is a risk also!

It depends whether u want to cut cost or reduce the risk by appointing your own lawyer.

Also depends how familiar you are with the process & the documentation.. if you have done it a few times before, and the transaction is quite straightforward, then you can take the risk cos the lawyer isn't really adding that much value. BUT if you are unfamiliar, or there are peculiarities with yr transaction, better get a lawyer (a good one)!

I'd STRONGLY recommend everyone to NEVER sell without a lawyer. And I'd also recommend to everyone not just to get a lawyer, but make sure that lawyer is good or very good. Property is a big investment for anyone. Don't risk losing a lot of money to save a little.

BTW, just one caveat - has anyone heard of lawyers running off with their client's money?

Paul,

there are indeed cases where lawyers have absconded with their client's money, but rarely.

more often, lawyers will delay in handing out monies that are supposed to be paid out, i've heard that some do this to collect the interest thereon, and nastier things like to invest in the share market to make a quick buck.

nevertheless, i believe that most lawyers are quite professional and would not indulge in such activities. but like in any other trade, there will be some rotten eggs.

if one encounters such rotten eggs, do make a complain to the Bar Council so that disciplinary action can be taken against them. they could be struck off the roll, or get barred from practicing for a few years.

Really? If your lawyer runs off with your money does some government of legal body cover you?

Farin, yes, don't worry, because all lawyers have to get professional indemnity insurance. thus, if the lawyer absconds with a client's money, that client will be indemnified.

nevertheless, if one comes across such lawyers, make sure one reports it to the authorities to weed out such rotten eggs.

Jason

Thanks very much. Do you know the max limit that they cover? There must be a limit, isn't it?

farin,

yes, as to the professional indemnity insurance, there is a limit although it is compulsory. However, as i know, small firms, i.e. those with 1 lawyer 2 clerks, normally insure up to 250k while bigger firms normally insure up to 1 mil.

nevertheless, there is still the compensation fund whereby each lawyer is to contribute a certain amount to the bar council and anyone with monies misappropriated by the lawyer can make a claim for it. you can refer to the link below for further reference. hope this helps.

http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/print.cfm?NewsID=50253

Jason

Thanks very much. I feel the RM250k is not enough. If you sell a property the lawyer may be keeping much more than that, especially if you have bought the property with cash.

I will ask my lawyer to see how much they are covered for.

I just joined this forum this morning.

Interesting that the readers have come to understand how the safety-net works for their peace of mind.

Do you realise that lawyers have a cap to their legal fees, ie. 1% for any transacted property below RM150K
and the next 0.7% above RM150K until RM1 million.

I think agents do not have a cap on any purchase price and they do charge a flat 2.xx% to 3.xx% even if the purchase price may go up to x,xxx,xxx.

Is that not a risk since the first person whom a vendor or a purchaser will see is the agent, not the lawyer nor the bank nor the land office ?

I have read of some purchasers not being fully informed of some basic and fundamental practice such as title number, name and NRIC of vendor/s, whether cukai taksiran and the cukai tanah is fully paid, whether there are any land premiums in arrears, water and electricity bills settled or still in arrears etc.

May be there should be a common guideline for all agents who wish to practice in ths field.

The risk of being misinformed can be a very costly affair to good prospect purchaser/s who wish to buy within their limited budget and such mistakes may be too painful to repeat.

Greater co-operation between the banks, legal practitioners and agents , I think will augur well for the housing industry overall.

Dear all,

My case is not related to selling of property but rather to the purchase of property. The lawyer recommended by the developer has been uncontactable and we, the buyers were informed by the developer that the lawyer has basically absconded with our stamp duty (+ legal fees) without perfecting the transfer of title.

We would like the developer to bear the stamp duty and legal fees to transfer the property title. However, the developer refused to bear responsibility.

We were advised to hire a lawyer to take up the case with the developer. Is there any other way for us to recover our stamp duty monies? Taking up the case to court is very costly for us individual purchaser with limited resources. Looks like we're left in a limbo with no recourse.

If any of you have encountered similar experience, would greatly appreciate your advise.
Thanks so much.

Have you check with the developer concerning the rest of all the other purchasers who are in similiar situation
as you are in ?

Surely, you cannot be singled out if at all, the developer recommended their clients to a known personal to them.

By then, you will get a clearer picture what the developer should be doing to protect the purchasers' interests
under the Housing Development Act.

The developer should provide you with a more appropriate answer. Don't forget your 10% deposit is still deposited into the Housing Developer's client's account, not with anyone else. So, looking at the huge amount of money in comparison to the stamp and legal fees, the developer is definitely accountable to all the purchasers, not merely to only a handful of several purchasers.