The Bar Council would like to draw the attention of the public to advertisements placed in local newspapers whenever there is a launch or promotion of a housing project by a developer.
The Bar Council often comes across a common feature in such advertisements indicating that the developer will 'subsidise legal fees' or even offer 'free legal fees' to a purchaser when he purchases any property from the developer during the launching or promotion period so long as the purchaser agrees to allow the developer's panel of solicitors to prepare the Sale and Purchase Agreement.
Such an offer of 'subsidy of legal fees' or 'free legal fees' may be misleading. It may not represent the actual situation. In actual fact, the developer's panel of solicitors are acting for the developer. The solicitors are not the purchaser's solicitors.
The developer has a duty to pay for its own solicitors' fees. Therefore, there is no issue of 'subsidy of legal fees' or 'free legal fees' since the purchaser is not liable to pay for any developer's legal fees in any event.
Section 84(1) of the Legal Profession Act 1976 ('the Act') states that an advocate and solicitor acting for the developer is prohibited from acting for the purchaser in a housing development. It clearly states that the developer's panel of solicitors cannot be the purchaser's solicitors. The developer cannot appoint solicitors for the purchaser.
It also states that the purchaser is at liberty to appoint his own solicitors to act for him when he buys property from the developer.
Section 84(3) of the Act clearly says that the developer and the purchaser must each pay for his own legal fees.
Where the purchaser appoints his own solicitors, the purchaser will pay legal fees to his own solicitors. Such fees are inclusive of fees payable for preparing the memorandum of transfer to transfer the property to the purchaser's name. The fees cover the services to be rendered for the whole transaction, including the sale and purchase agreement, as well as the memorandum of transfer.
If the strata title or the individual title to the purchaser's property has not as yet been issued, the purchaser may have to pay an additional relatively small sum to cover the extra work done when the purchaser's title is issued at a later date.
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International Malaysia Law Conference (26 to 28 Sept 2012) Hurry up! The countdown continues and the current promotion rate ends 30 June 2012. Don't miss what is going to be the best conference in the region! On top of that, if you sign up with 5 or more people from the same organisation, we will give you a 10% group discount. Click on the link above to register.
Talk on Summary Judgement (25 May 2012) Organised by the Selangor Bar Committee, this talk will take place at 5:00 pm, at the Selangor Bar Committee Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). The talk will be conducted by Ramesh Supramanian. Click on the link above for more details.
Seminar on Tax Issues in Financial Transactions (25 May 2012) Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Professional Development Committee, this seminar, featuring S Saravana Kumar, will take place at 3:00 pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). Click on the link above for more details.
Dialogue with Criminal Law Practitioners (26 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council, this dialogue will take place at 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, at the Raja Aziz Addruse Auditorium, Bar Council, on 26 May 2012 (Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.
Conference on Competition Law (31 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council with the support of LexisNexis, this conference will take place at 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, at Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, on 31 May 2012 (Thursday). For more details or to register, please contact Vilashini Vijayan (03-2050 2095; vila@malaysianbar.org.my). Click on the link above for more details.
Talk on What Clients Want (7 June 2012) Organised by the KL Bar Practitioners' Affairs Committee, the talk, presented by Ong Eu Jin, will take place at 5:00 pm, at the KL Bar Auditorium, on 7 June 2012 (Thursday). Click on the link above for more details.
4th LAWASIA Family Law Conference, Penang (13 and 14 July 2012) Supported by Penang Bar Committee and the Malaysian Bar, this conference, themed “The New Global Family: Emerging Trends and Challenges to Family Practice”, will take place at Traders Hotel, Penang, on 13 and 14 July 2012 (Friday and Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.
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