Property Registration

Lawyer conducts the land title, the company and the bankruptcy searches online

Agency: e-Tanah online single window

The parties will mutually agree on whose solicitors will prepare the sale-purchase agreement.

As of December 2017, the lawyer can conduct the following searches via the online platform e-Tanah:

• Land Title Information to ascertain who is the registered proprietor of the property, the category of land use of the property, the conditions to which the property is subject, whether the property is subject to any restrictions, and whether the property is subject to any encumbrances (charges, caveats).
• Company search to check all the information registered on the company and charges registered.
• A winding-up/bankruptcy search on the seller with a private company, MYEG in place of Insolvency Department. The bankruptcy and winding up search is not required by the Land office or by law in a property Land Title Information transfer process but it is done as a prudent measure to protect purchaser.

Time and cost: Less than one day (online), MYR 55

• Land title search: 30 RM; plus
• company search: 10 RM; plus
• Service Charge: 5 RM; plus
• GST: 0.90 RM (GST is not included in cost); plus
• Winding-up search: 10 RM (all online through e-Tanah)

Buyer and seller sign sales-purchase agreement in presence of lawyer and lawyer fills out Form 14A Memorandum of Transfer

Agency: Lawyer’s office

The Memorandum of Transfer (Form 14A) has to be attested by a licensed professional – can be a lawyer or an official from the land office. This is stated in the National Land Code.

Documentation shall include:

• Memorandum of Transfer (Form 14A)
• Copy of the sale-purchase agreement
• Copy of title deed
• Form PDS15 (Stamping Proforma)

Time and cost: 1 day, MYR 17,320.32

Effective from 15.3.2017, Lawyers’ professional fee (not including GST and disbursements) for preparing sale and purchase agreement and completing the transfer of property as follows:

• For the 1st RM500,000.00 of purchase price: 1% (subject minimum of RM500.00),
• The next RM500,000.00: 0.8%,
• The next RM2,000,000.00: 0.7%,
• The subsequent next RM2,000,000.00: 0.6%,
• The subsequent next RM2,500,000.00: 0.5%,
• Where consideration is excess RM7,500,000.00: negotiable on the excess (but shall not exceed 0.5% of such excess).

Send Memorandum of Transfer (14A) to the Stamp Office for adjudication of Stamp Duty and valuation by JPPH

Agency: Stamp Office assessment and payment system (http://pinharta.hasil.gov.my)

The valuation department will conduct an inspection to value the property, if required. The inspection is not mandatory to conclude the valuation and it is at the discretion of the valuation department, but in practice, it takes place in the majority of the cases. The Stamp Office will issue a notice of assessment based on the valuation department’s report.

Submission can be made either manually or online through the website http://pinharta.hasil.gov.my. E-stamping (online) is now available only to legal firms, banks, company secretaries, accounting firms and companies.

If completed online the submission must include:

• The sale-purchase agreement
• Copy of the Issue Document of Title (IDT)
• Form 14A
• Form PDS 15
• Other supporting documents

Once accepted, an adjudication number will be assigned by the system. When the Stamp Office receives the submission, the documents are transferred to JPPH for valuation. When required, a valuation inspection will be made on the property by JPPH. In most of the cases, commercial properties will be assessed. The JPPH will prepare a valuation report which is sent to the Stamp Office. The applicant will be able to follow the status of the adjudication online.

Time and cost: 9 days, no charge

Payment of stamp duty and stamping of Form 14A

Agency: Inland Revenue Board of Malaysia (IRBM)

Stamp duty must then be paid to the Stamp Office, based on the Notice of Assessment, within fourteen (14) days from the date of such notice or the period indicated by the Collector of Stamp Duty. Usually the Collector will give thirty (30) days from the date of such notice to pay the stamp duty.

Online: 1 – 8 days (for standard property, ie. apartment, condominium, terrace house, factory and warehouse within a scheme); 2 – 4 weeks (for nonstandard property, ie. bungalow, shop, factory, land, etc). Payment may also be made electronically via Financial Processing Exchange (FPX), or at the Stamp Office.

The documentation shall include:

• Form 14A (Memorandum of Transfer)
• Notice of Assessment Form PDS 3

Time and cost: 1 day, MYR 59,658.51 (1% on first RM 100,000, 2% on excess of RM 100,000 up to RM 500,000 and 3% on excess over RM 500,000 (Stamp duty))

The transfer is registered at the Land Office/Registry

Agency: Land Office/Registry

The purchaser’s lawyer presents the duly stamped Memorandum of Transfer (Form 14A) for registration at the Land Office/Registry. This must be done within three months from the date of the Memorandum of Transfer (Form 14A) which is usually dated when it is submitted for adjudication. A title search is conducted just prior to presentation to ensure that there are no encumbrances or restraint against dealings which may hinder the registration of the Memorandum of Transfer (Form 14A). The documentation shall include:

• Copies of Quit rent and Assessment receipts
• Certified true copies of the Memorandum and Articles of Association, Form 24 (Return on Allotment of Shares), Form 49 (Return Giving Particulars in Register of Directors, Managers and Secretaries and Changes of Particulars) of the Purchaser and Vendor
• Certified true copies of the Vendor’s and Purchaser’s board resolutions giving authority to sell and purchase the property respectively
• Search report on the Purchaser as extracted from the Companies Commission of Malaysia
• Duly stamped Memorandum of Transfer (Form 14A)
• Copy of Notice of Assessment bearing Stamp Office’s endorsement that ad valorem stamp duty has been paid (obtained in Procedure 3)
• Original of the title document.

After submission, the applicants get the “presentation receipt” the same day. It gives the time of submission and that is the time of legal “registration”. The computerized system at the Land Registry also immediately tags the land as ‘pending transfer’ and hence anyone conducting a land search on the property will be aware of encumbrances (if any). However, the “presentation receipt” is enough for Banks to release the loan.

Time and cost: 4 days, MYR 130 (Registration fee: RM 100 + Search fee: RM 30)

Update the name of the buyer at the Municipality

Agency: Kuala Lumpur City Hall

In law, both the seller and buyer will have to update the name of the property owner at the Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

• Pursuant to Section 160(1) of the Local Government Act, 1976, (“LGA”) it is the duty of a vendor and purchaser within three (3) months after the sale or transfer of a ratable holding to give notice of such sale or transfer thereof to the local authority in Form I of the First Schedule to the LGA; and
• Pursuant to Section 160(6) of the LGA, every person failing to give any notice shall on conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding RM2,000.00 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding six (6) months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

Time and cost: 1 day, no charge