If you have purchased or planning to purchase a high-rise property, you should be aware that you are not just purchasing the unit that you have chosen, you also have the rights to utilize other facilities such as gym, sauna, swimming pool, barbecue pit, parks, landscape area and other facilities provided in your condominium/service apartment. Other than that, you are also using the common area such as lifts, corridors and staircases. Whether you are actually using those facilities or not, every owner has the responsibility to pay maintenance fees so that the property is in a livable condition.
Maintenance fee usually comprises of service charges and sinking fund. Service charges are used to pay for utility bills of common area, replacing the lightings and cleaning of common area, upkeep the landscape area and other routine maintenance. Whereas sinking fund are used for major improvements such as repainting of building facade, refurbishment of common area and upgrade the existing access card system. Some of you might think that not paying up the maintenance fee is a small issue just like not giving back the money you borrowed from your friends. But in reality, you are committing an offence under the Strata Management Act 2013. The management have the right to fine you, block your access card, blacklist your name in CCRIS or CTOS, among others. In serious cases, your personal belonging can be seized to pay up for the amount you owed.
If you are one of those responsible owners who always pay maintenance fees on time, congratulations and keep up the good work. As one of the member of your strata living community, there are one more thing that you must do, which is attending every session of the annual general meeting (AGM) held by your management corporation (MC). Before you list out all the reasons for not attending the meeting, let us enlighten you on the benefits of doing so first.
As a unit owner, your have voting rights to agree or oppose proposals that are brought up during the AGM, such as adjustment to the maintenance fee amount, replacement of any contracted personnel such as security guards, cleaners and technician, refurbishment plans and so on. This is to ensure that unit owners are aware of any changes in relation to the maintenance and management of the shared property and how their maintenance fees are being utilized. Let's say if the facilities in your property is always malfunctioning, and nothing is done even if many people had complained about the same problem, owners can bring up this issue during the meeting to make sure that the management do not neglect the situation. Owners also have the rights to view the statement of accounts to prevent the maintenance fees being mismanaged.
Living in a strata property means living in a community. Unlike landed properties, your neighbors are not just the ones who lived beside your unit, but also include every other unit owners. Every strata property owner needs to know his or her rights and obligations to not cause troubles to others. Maintenance fees are meant to ensure that the community is harmonious and well-maintained. If you have problems paying your fees, it is best to discuss it with your condominium management.
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Wesley Tan: +6017-688 9998
Jasone Gan: +6017-6018899
Brandon Lim: +6016-416 9193
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