Saturday, September 02, 2006
[RealEdge] Today Online Forum : Third party needed in condo disputes
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| Third party needed in condo disputes Law must address conflict among owners and developers Weekend September 2, 2006 Letter from Patrick Sio The latest spate of letters on en bloc sales and the "pro tem sales committees" prompted me to write about the issue of managing condominiums under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act. I feel that condominium owners' trust in the law is misplaced. It is only during trying times of en bloc sales that the inadequacy of the Act starts to show. Otherwise, everybody including the relevant supervising authorities seem content to leave things be. Let me explain. A condominium' What happens when a condominium has unsold flats? The developer might try to prevent owners from forming the management council, so as to gain "control" of decision-making at council meetings. But a developer's interests are very different from those of an owner. The developer may want to make use of maintenance funds to further his sales, such as spending unnecessarily to "brighten up" the common areas. As a consequence, the owners have to pay huge utility bills in their monthly maintenance contributions. This is a plain mismatch of interests. The process to bring matters to be heard by an administrator of justice is expensive. This is my personal experience. I paid $500 out of my own pocket to bring the developer to the Strata Titles Board, just to ask for photocopies of documents kept by the developer, and which he is duty-bound to furnish me with. The law should make available resources in the form of independent third parties with no interests in the condominium who can hear out differing views. This is much like the HDB Town Councils whose members may not necessarily be residents of the town. The Member of Parliament is the chairman of the Town Council, a person who has enough clout to influence decision-making for the good of all concerned. Until condominiums have access to an authority who is impartial and who cannot be disqualified, this problem of fighting among residents with opposing interests continues at the expense of the peace of the condominium estate. With regards to the report, "Condo residents can expect better service from agents" (Sept 1), I do not know where to find the new Singapore Standard for Performance of Managing Agents for Strata Residential Properties (SS519). But I wonder if national benchmarks address some critical issues. What is the standard required of the Managing Agent during the initial period (first 12 months) of being appointed by the developer-owner? Should the managing agent blindly listen to the latter's instructions? For example, at the first AGM, the managing agent is to display all documents that are to be handed to the first management council, according to the Act. But the managing agents do not always comply with this rule because they follow the instructions of those who have appointed them. Also, is there a proper hand-over to the council, with the developer listing the various defects discovered, rectified or disputed? | |
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// posted by Shajahan @ 3:20 PM 