I REFER to Dr Goh Ban Lee’s column “Refund illegal consent fees” in theSun of
Aug 14 wherein he wrote: “Unfortunately, many who sold properties after April 12
have been asked to pay consent fees. It is possible that the errant developers
did not know of the new ruling and many lawyers involved in property
transactions were also in the dark.”
This may not be correct as it is not possible that many lawyers were in the dark
about section 22D of the Housing Development (Control & Licensing) Act 1966
which came into force on April 12 this year.
The Bar Council had informed all legal practitioners of the section before and
after April 12. Since then, my committee had also conducted many talks for
lawyers about this section and the implications arising out of non-compliance
with it.
Lawyers have also been reminded that section 22D(5) provides that any person
(and that includes a lawyer) who requires any consent from a housing developer
to an assignment shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be
liable to a fine which shall not be less than RM50,000 but which shall not
exceed RM100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to
both.
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