This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on January 12, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Practising property managers will now be officially regulated alongside property valuers, appraisers and estate agents, following the launch of the Register of Property Managers by Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Tan Sri Noh Omar yesterday.

This follows the inclusion of property managers into Act 242, now known as the Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers Act 1981, which was passed on Oct 17, 2017 and gazetted on Jan 2 this year.

Strata management, done by property managers appointed by the joint management body (JMB) or management corporation — which are represented by homeowners themselves — falls under the urban wellbeing, housing and local government ministry.

With the launch of the Register of Property Managers, it brings the practice of property management under the ambit of the Board of Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers (BOVAEP), which falls under the ministry of finance’s purview.

BOVAEP board member Kamaruzaman Jamil told reporters after the launch that presently, there are about 1,200 registered property managers in Malaysia, with an estimated 5,000 who are practising but not registered. Concurrently, there are almost 20,000 strata developments with 1.75 million units in Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan, housing some seven million people.

Following the enforcement of Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations in 2015, Kamaruzaman said BOVAEP received 116 complaints on mismanagement by non-registered managers in 2016 alone, compared with 10 on registered managers, but conceded that this could be just “the tip of the iceberg of many unreported cases”.

Common cases include breach of trust when managers disappear with management fees, as well as incompetence in managing the property, resulting in home- or strata-owners refusing to pay management fees, which further hampers the manager’s ability to provide good service.

With the need for property managers to register, it ensures the public is served by practitioners with the necessary skills in the field, such as construction, property maintenance, property and strata law, and property finance, among others. However, homeowners can still choose to self-manage the property via JMB if they wish.

Kamaruzaman also dismisses claims that valuers will now have the upper hand to become certified property managers due to their qualification in terms of expertise and relevant documents.

“This is why we call it liberalisation. Anyone with enough experience and a good track record can participate. Which is why we have the grace period,” he said.

Individuals with a minimum of eight years of experience in managing property but lack the necessary certificates are given a one-year grace period to register themselves as certified professionals with less stringent screening.

After the end of the grace period, they must follow the standard procedure to register. This includes a minimum degree qualification, followed by a nine-month course, two years of working under a registered property manager, as well as a Test of Professional Competence (TPC) before they are considered as qualified.

Meanwhile, illegal or non-registered property managers who still refuse to register by the end of the grace period risk a number of actions including admonishment by BOVAEP and a maximum fine of RM25,000.

On a separate matter, Noh confirmed the MyDeposit 2018 scheme is also eligible for buyers looking to purchase sub-sale housing units. “Yes. We can take into consideration sub-sale units.”

“MyDeposit 2018 is for first-time buyers with household incomes of between RM3,000 and RM15,000 to purchase a house under RM500,000.”

Applicants can receive a grant worth a minimum 10% of the house price or a maximum of RM30,000.

The application ends on Feb 15.