Rumah ibarat Harta Rampasan Perang

Tahun 2014, iaitu tahun lepas adalah tahun berkenalan dengan beberapa rakan baru di dunia penerbitan buku. Antara yang menjadi kenalan baru adalah Amir Muhamad, yang aku jumpa semasa pelancaran buku kedua aku di Pesta Buku Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur 2013. Masa tu Azizi Ali telah menjemput seorang VIP untuk melancarkan buku-buku keluaran syarikat penerbitannya, True Wealth Sdn Bhd. Azizi Ali memang telah lama aku kenali sejak 2008 secara peribadi dan bertahun-tahun sebelum itu melalui tulisannya.

Masa tu aku telah terlibat sama dengan pelancaran tersebut di Center Court PWTC di Pesta Buku KL itu kerana buku aku, 40 More Questions You Should Ask Your Lawyer Before Buying A Residential Property in Malaysia baru keluar sebulan dua sebelum tu. Buku kedua ini tidak diterbitkan sebagai buku Bahasa Malaysia fizikal tetapi hanya sebagai eBook. Tajuknya ialah 40 Lagi Soalan Yang Anda Patut Tanya Peguam Anda Sebelum Membeli Rumah Kediaman di Malaysia. Link untuk membelinya ialah : LawyerHartanah.com. Mungkin satu hari ia akan dikeluarkan sebagai buku fizikal.

Beberapa bulan kemudian aku mula menulis satu manuskrip untuk Fixi, syarikat penerbitan yang diwujudkan oleh Amir Muhammad untuk menerbitkan cerita-cerita yang bukan cerita cinta di Malaysia. Ini adalah penerangan Amir jika ditemuramah tentang bagaimana ideanya untuk mewujudkan Fixi timbul. Aku sebenarnya merahsiakan manuskrip fiksyen aku daripada Azizi kerana segan untuk memberitahu yang aku menulis buku fiksyen. Ya lah, target market Fixi adalah muda mudi yang boleh dikatakan majoritinya adalah belasan tahun dan awal dua puluhan. Dengan Fixi aku dah terbit dua buku bawah nama Anuar Shah bertajuk Pinjam dan Pentas. Insyaallah aku akan tulis beberapa buku lagi dengan Fixi (dan mungkin tak berhenti pun selagi diorang nak terbitkan)

Aku yang dah nak masuk empat puluh masa tu dan seorang peguam hartanah terasa macam dah patut lupa kan generasi muda. Tapi macam terpanggil pulan nak menulis untuk mereka.

Sejak masa itu aku berkenalan dengan lebih mendalam seorang individu bernama Mutalib Uthman atau Mut atau Luca yang terkenal di blog dan Twitter. Aku tak kenal dia masa dia femes di blog tetapi aku kenal dia bila dia dah dewasa ni.

Jadi setiap kali berjumpa masa awal-awal, dia tanya, aku tak nak tulis buku hartanah untuk golongan muda ke?

Aku terpanggil untuk menulis dan sekarang aku sedang menulis sebuah buku bertajuk 'Harta Rampasan Perang' untuk DuBook Press.

Ini adalah Bab Pertama buku itu yang menerangkan kenapa rumah adalah ibarat harta rampasan perang.

Mungkin final product akan berubah tetapi inilah outlinenya -

1 - Definisi Harta Rampasan Perang

Kata pujangga, rumahku adalah adalah syurgaku.

Rumah adalah tempat kita dilahirkan (untuk sesetengah orang), dibesarkan, diberi makan, belajar berjalan, bermain dengan kawan-kawan, tempat kita pulang semula selepas keluar belajar, selepas keluar mengembara, tempat kita berasmara dana, tempat membela kucing atau anjing, tempat membuang najis, tempat kita jatuh, tempat kita bangun dan secara mudah, rumah adalah tempat kita hidup dan mati.

Rumah adalah lebih berharga kepada sesetengah orang berbanding dengan harta lain. Rumah tidak mudah untuk dilepaskan apabila seseorang mula suka kepadanya. Rumah tidak mudah untuk dipindahkan daripada satu orang kepada seorang yang lain.

Kalau kita pindah rumah kita akan mengupah orang untuk mengangkat barang-barang yang telah kita kumpul sepanjang hidup kita di rumah itu ke rumah yang baru. Begitu berharga rumah dan isi rumah di zaman moden ini, kita akan membeli insurans untuk rumah dan isi rumah.

Jika seseorang tu adalah seorang pengumpul, tidak kira pengumpul lukisan mahal karya Da Vinci atau Van Gogh atau Ibrahim Hussin, atau mengumpul komik edisi pertama Superman atau Raja Rimba, dia akan pastikan sekuriti di rumahnya adalah first class atau jika dia gemar mengumpul isteri dan mempunyai ramai anak-anak yang dianggapnya perlu berharga, dia akan pastikan akan mempunyai rumah yang cukup untuk memuaskan hati semua tanggungannya.

Untuk memahami kenapa rumah ibarat harta rampasan perang, cuba lihat betapa sukarnya untuk memiliki rumah. Cuba lihat barisan yang panjang setiap kali terdapat pelancaran rumah baru bagaimana pembeli rumah sanggup beratur daripada pagi sehingga ke malam untuk mendapatkan rumah yang boleh berharga daripada RM42,000 iaitu harga rumah murah di Malaysia sehingga rumah berjuta-juta ringgit.

Rumah yang dilabel di bawah skim rumah mampu milik atau lebih popular dikenali dengan nama affordable housing dijual oleh syarikat-syarikat penuh milik kerajaan seperti Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad, Perumahan 1 Malaysia (PR1MA), Rumah Wilayah Persekutuan (Rumah WIP), syarikat berkaitan kerajaan seperti Sime Darby, SP Setia, I&P dan PKNS dan juga dibina oleh syarikat-syarikat swasta seperti Mah Sing, Matrix Concept dan Tropicana Berhad.

Ada yang melakukan pembinaan rumah mampu milik ini dengan rela kerana ia adalah matlamat syarikat itu dan ada yang melakukannya dengan tidak rela.

Rumah-rumah mampu milik ini adalah hanya sebahagian daripada jenis-jenis rumah yang ada di dunia ini. Ada juga rumah yang berharga lebih mahal daripada rumah mampu milik (rumah mampu milik yang paling mahal adalah RM400,000 – ada yang meletakkannya pada RM500,000).

Rumah banglo tersergam indah di atas bukit, rumah penthouse dua tingkat di tingkat yang paling tinggi dalam sebuah kondominium, rumah agam yang mempunyai kawasan yang sangat luas sehingga ia memerlukan beberapa orang untuk menjaganya dan rumah-rumah teres yang dibina pada masa Lembah Klang masih baru. Rumah-rumah yang disebut ini sudah tentunya berharga lebih daripada RM500,000 Malahan mencapai angka berjuta-juta.

Hanya ada satu perkara yang menghubung rumah-rumah ini, tidak kira rumah yang paling rumah atau rumah yang paling mahal. Setiap rumah ini menjadi idaman setiap orang tidak kira orang itu mampu untuk membelinya atau tidak.

Setiap pelabur hartanah tidak pernah berhenti daripada membeli rumah walaupun dia telah membeli rumah idamannya.

Lihat di setiap barisan yang beratur di seluruh negara, betapa ramai yang beratur itu telah mempunyai rumah yang lain.

Yang beratur akan mendapatkan maklumat apabila ada pelancaran rumah baru dan akan cuba untuk mendapatkan rumah itu dengan pelbagai cara termasuk menggunakan nama orang lain yang layak mendapatnya, meminjam wang yang belum tentu mampu untuk dibayar semula dan merasuah sesiapa saja yang boleh mendapatkan rumah itu.

Ada orang yang menggunakan rumah sebagai alat untuk membuat lebih banyak lagi wang untuk membeli rumah lain, ada yang sanggup mendapat rasuah dalam bentuk rumah, ada yang menggubah wang haram yang banyak dengan membeli rumah dan macam-macam lagi kegunaan rumah.

Rumah direbut, dipusakai, dipindahmilik, dicagar, dipajak, disewa, dikaveat, dilien dan diberi pampasan.

Di dalam sejarah manusia, revolusi seperti yang berlaku berulang kali dalam sejarah dunia, sama ada di Eropah, di Russia, di Jerman, di Amerika Syarikat, sejarah Nazi, semasa Perang Dunia Pertama dan Kedua, sejarah warisan dunia seperti di Pulau Pinang dan Melaka, rumah akan diserang, dibakar, dijadikan tempat persembunyian, dijadikan markas, diletupkan, dibina semula, dicantikkan dan semua ini diulang semula apabila negara itu jatuh ke tangan musuh.

Pelbagai cerita di dalam dunia dapat didengar tentang bagaimana harta rampasan perang yang menjadi milik satu pihak berpindah kepada pihak yang lagi satu apabila perang tamat dan pemenang perang itu diumumkan.

Mungkin kita tidak sedar tetapi Perang Dunia Kedua yang telah tamat 70 tahun yang lepas telah menyebabkan beberapa Tanah Melayu, yang kita anggap sebagai milik mutlak kita telah berpindah tangan kepada beberapa pihak lain. Walaupun Perang Dunia Kedua melibatkan pihak luar antaranya Amerika Syarikat, British, Jepun dan Jerman.

Ramai lupa tentang negara-negara sampingan yang terlibat kerana cerita propaganda yang banyak tersiar adalah samada perang antara Amerika Syarikat dengan Jerman; Amerika Syarikat dengan Jepun; British dengan Jerman; dan British dengan Jepun; atau gabungan antara dua menentang satu atau dua yang lain.

Apa yang menyebabkan perang dunia yang sudah lama berlaku ini tetapi masih dapat dilihat di dalam filem di seluruh dunia samada melalui filem-filem lama dan baru ini segar dalam ingatan adalah asalnya Perang Dunia Kedua (dan Pertama) adalah mengani tanah atau harta. Satu negara ingin memiliki tanah dan harta negara lain. Itu adalah punca asal kedua-dua perang tetapi ia menjadi tidak penting kerana apabila semakin banyak jumlah korban manusia, memulakan perang kerana tanah menjadi tidak penting.

Untuk memberi perspektif yang lebih mudah, mungkin kita boleh lihat bagaimana Singapura telah berjaya mendapatkan Pulau Batu Putih atau nama Portugisnya, Pedra Branca, di pesisir pantai Johor.

Untuk sebuah negara seperti Singapura yang kecil, yang wujud sebagai sebuah pulau di hujung negara kita, mereka cukup menghargai tanah yang mereka miliki termasuk Pulau Batu Putih yang mereka telah menangi di Mahkamah Antarabangsa di The Hague, Belanda.

Singapura sentiasa mengawal Pulau Batu Putih itu pada setiap masa dengan bot pengawal pantai pereka seperti pada bila-bila masa Malaysia akan melanggar penghakiman yang telah dijatuhkan oleh Mahkamah Antarabangsa itu.

Untuk memberi perspektif personal kepada pemilik-pemilik rumah, pernah kah anda lihat kes-kes yang terpampang di dada akhbar tentang bagaimana dua jiran boleh bertelagah kerana satu jiran membuat ubahsuai rumah sehingga ada bahagian yang terjulur ke rumah jirannya.

Kes yang mungkin boleh dijadikan contoh terbaik adalah kes yang berlaku kepada seorang ustazah terkenal, yang kini adalah seorang senator, di mana dia telah disaman oleh jirannya kerana merosakkan rumput dan tembok rumah jirannya semasa membina binaan rumahnya sehingga memakan ruang kediaman jirannya.

Jirannya mendakwa, pembinaan yang dilakukan di rumah ustazah itu telah menyebabkan rumput mutiara dan tembok di rumahnya rosak.

Maka berperang lah dua jiran tersebut.

Jiran ustazah itu menuntut gantirugi di mahkamah dalam kes pada tahun 2002 ini tetapi akhirnya pada tahun 2006, kes ini berjaya diselesaikan di luar mahkamah. Alhamdulillah selesai.

Contoh-contoh di atas di mana manusia berebut tanah atas dasar kenegaraan, ideologi dan keempunyaan, jelas menunjukkan yang rumah dan tanah sering menjadi rebutan.

Apabila ia diperolehi dan dimiliki oleh seseorang maka ia ibarat harta rampasan perang.

How new F&B business can bypass GST collection / Bagaimana bisnes GST baru boleh tidak mengutip GST

I have written this as an article published in Malaysia Insider titled How a new F&B outlet can bypass GST by Khairul Anuar Shaharudin and the new internet magazine LivingMsia titled Getting into the food business? Be GST smart! (Check out LivingMsia as they are a new internet magazine with lots to offer). They are different from each other as I edited them for each publication.

Here is the article reproduced ad verbatim from Malaysian Insider :

Caution: this is not something the taxman (Customs Department) would like you to know, but the advice here is not against the law with regards to the goods and services tax (GST) in Malaysia.

You are starting a new food and beverage (F&B) business because you think you have delicious food to sell. Here are some tips for new F&B ventures to make sure you will survive the first few months, maybe even a year or two, in this new GST era:

1) There is a threshold of RM500,000 per year before you have to collect GST from your clients. That amount translates to just above RM40,000 per month. You need to calculate an amount for your livelihood after deducting costs, which may translate to half of that amount or even less.

You can sell your food and beverages more cheaply than those who have to collect GST for every single item they sell.

The threshold set makes sure any business that crosses the threshold is taxable under GST. If you are ambitious and cannot wait to make your first million in the first year of your business, you can go ahead and break that threshold and then you will have to collect GST from your clients.

Those who are smart and know the real value of a business for its longevity, be patient. Business is a marathon and not a 100-metre dash, after all.

2) In order to make No. 1 work, you have to have a game plan. Like buying your ingredients for your food business from among those stuffs which are zero-rated items in GST. Many raw materials are zero-rated but this may change in the future. Hence, study the list of zero-rated items and make sure you make adjustments accordingly.

3) Lower the costs of your operation. You can do this by doing a few cost-effective measures of running an F&B business:

a) Operate the business yourself. Don't use too much labour, especially foreign labour. Man the point of sale yourself, cook and serve every customer yourself (personal touch is always good) and if you can, do everything yourself.

b) Run your business from a stall or half a shop. Get a place where the rent is cheap. If you still want make it a full-service F&B business, the patrons can stand or sit on high chairs. This requires less space.

c) Sell from home. Run a delivery service or a pick-up service. Cakes baked at home and delivered to buyers make surprisingly good business. Packed-lunch business is also picking up in the Klang Valley.

d) A take-away only business like goreng pisang or nasi lemak stalls can be lucrative but still below the threshold for GST collection.

e) Cater to small groups of people with a certain target of money to be collected each month. A cook with talents for certain types of food can command good money.

f) Keep short hours for your F&B business. Foot traffic in most areas (even in malls) fills up only in short durations of time and not all the time every day. Concentrate on either breakfast or lunch or dinner or a combination of two only, ideally those adjacent to each other.

g) Cook and send to other places to sell your food. There are not many nasi lemak bungkus on the tables of mamaks these days.

4) Close the shop for a certain period of time each year when you near your threshold for that year. Or set a target of RM500,000 revenue per year and the moment you achieve it, close your shop until the next year comes around. People in Europe do it. Maybe it is time for us to follow suit.

5) Finally, albeit expensively, close your business every time you have bypassed the threshold. Be forewarned, the Customs Department did warn that businesses which take this route may be found liable in trying to bypass GST.

Do refer to a tax consultant about all your GST inquiries before implementing these suggestions. – May 26, 2015.

Berikut adalah terjemahan artikel di atas di dalam Bahasa Malaysia :

Amaran : Ini bukan sesuatu yang pihak berkuasa, Jabatan Kastam, mahu anda tahu tetapi nasihat di sini bukan lah sesuatu yang menyalahi undang-undang berkenaan cukai barangan dan perkhidmatan (GST) di Malaysia.

Anda akan memulangkan perniagaan makanan dan minuman (F&B) yang baru kerana anda merasakan anda mempunyai makanan yang sedap untuk dijual. Berikut adalah beberapa tips untuk perniagaan F&B yang baru yang memastikan anda dapat bertahan selama beberapa bulan dan mungkin juga setahun dua di dalam era GST yang masih baru ini :

1) Terdapat had RM500,000 setahun yang perlu dilepasi sebelum anda perlu mengutip GST daripada pelanggan anda. Jumlah ini menjadi lebih kurang RM40,000 sebulan. Anda perlu mengira jumlah yang diperlukan untuk hidup setelah menolak kos, yang mungkin akan memakan setengah atau kurang daripada jumlah itu.

Anda boleh menjual makanan dan minuman anda lebih murah daripada mereka yang mengutip GST daripada pelanggan untuk setiap barangan yang mereka jual.

Had yang telah ditentukan memastikan hanya perniagaan yang telah melebihi had tersebut dikenakan cukai GST. Sekiranya anda jenis yang terlalu cepat kaya dan tidak boleh menunggu untuk mencapai jumlah sejuta anda pada tahun pertama perniagaan anda, anda boleh memilih untuk melepasi had tersebut yang menyebabkan anda terpaksa mengutip GST daripada pelanggan-pelanggan anda.

Mereka yang bijak dan tahu tentang nilai sebenar sebuah perniagaan adalah berapa lama ia wujud, akan tahu untuk bersabar. Perlu ingat, perniagaan adalah satu maraton dan bukannya larian 100-meter.

2) Untuk membuat No. 1 berjaya, anda perlu mempunyai perancangan rapi. Antaranya membeli barangan mentah untuk perniagaan makanan daripada barangan kadar-0 dalam GST. Banyak bahan mentah adalah barangan kadar-0 tetapi ini mungkin berubah di masa hadapan. Oleh itu, kaji senaran barangan mentah kadar-0 dan pastikan anda membuat pelarasan sewajarnya. 

3) Kurangkan kos operasi anda. Anda boleh lakukan ini dengan beberapa kos yang efektif dalam menjalankan perniagaan F&B :

a) Lakukan semua operasi anda sendiri. Jangan gunakan terlalu ramai pekerja, terutama pekerja asing. Jaga kaunter wang anda sendiri, masak sendir dan hidangkan makanan untuk pelanggan anda sendiri (sentuhan peribadi selalunya menarik pelanggan yang lebih) dan sekiranya boleh, lakukan semua perkara sendiri.

b) Jalankan perniagaan anda daripada gerai atau sewa hanya setengah kedai. Dapatkan tempat di mana sewa adalah murah. Jika anda mahu menjadikan ia perniagaan F&B berservis penuh, pelanggan boleh berdiri atau duduk atas kerusi tinggi. Ini memerlukan ruang yang lebih kecil.

c) Jual daripada rumah. Lakukan penghantaran atau pelanggan boleh mengambilnya sendiri. Kek yang dibakar di rumah dan dihantar kepada pelanggan adalah pernigaan yang menguntungkan. Perniagaan makanan tengahari berbungkus semakin popular di Lembah Klang.  

d) Perniagaan makanan bungkus-sahaja seperti yang menjual goreng pisang atau nasi lemak cukup menguntungkan tetapi masih tidak melepasi had untuk mengutip GST.

e) Masak untuk pelanggan dalam majlis tertentu dengan jumlah tertentu dengan sasaran jumlah wang tertentu untuk dikutip setiap bulan. Tukang masak yang boleh memasak makanan tertentu boleh membuat duit yang banyak. 

f) Pastikan masa buka perniagaan F&B anda pendek. Trafik pelanggan di kebanyakan tempat (termasuk pasaraya) hanya banyak dalam tempoh masa tertentu dan bukan setiap masa pada setiap hari. Tumpukan samada untuk sarapan pagi atau makan tengahari atau makan malam atau gabungan dua daripadanya, secara ideal yang bersebelahan antara satu sama lain.

g) Masak dan hantar ke tempat lain untuk menjual makanan anda. Nasi lemak bungkus semakin kurang di meja-meja di kedai mamak sekarang. 

4) Tutup kedai anda untuk beberapa lama pada setiap tahun apabila anda hampir mencapai had GST untuk tahun tersebut. Atau setkan sasaran perolehan RM500,000 setahun dan apabila anda mencapainya, tutup kedai anda sehingga tahun seterusnya. Banyak kedai di Eropah melakukannya. Mungkin sudah sampai masa kita melakukan yang sama.

5) Akhirnya, walaupun mungkin sedikit mahal, tutup perniagaan anda apabila anda telah mencapai had GST tersebut dan buka perniagaan baru. Jabatan Kastam ada memberi amaran akan mengambil tindakan kepada perniagaan yang sengaja melakukan sedemikian untuk sesiapa yang didapati cuba untuk lari daripada mengutip GST.

Sila rujuk pakar cukai dan GST tentang sebarang hal-hal GST sebelum melakukan cadangan-cadangan di atas.

Sewa : Isu dan Konflik Tuan Rumah dengan Penyewa

Pada hari Rabu, 20.5.2015, saya telah muncul di dalam program TV Al-Hijrah, Assalamualaikum di dalam segmen hartanah berbicara tentang Penyewa vs. Tuan Rumah.

Saya ada membuat blogpost tentang kemunculan saya itu di sini (eja segmen pun salah!).

Program Assalamualaikum TV Al-Hijrah ini berlangsung setiap hari di antara pukul 8.30 pagi sehingga 10.30 pagi. Ini maklumat tentang program Assalamualaikum yang diambil daripada website TV Al-Hijrah. Jika hendak playback rancangan-rancangan daripada TV Al-Hijrah boleh ke Al-Hijrah Media. Oleh kerana mereka tidak menaikmuatkan semua program mereka, saya ingin mengulas apa yang telah saya bincangkan pada hari itu. Iaitu tentang isu menyewa rumah.

Hos pada hari itu adalah Shahrul dan Sofi

Saya telah diutarakan soalan tentang masalah-masalah yang dihadapi oleh tuan rumah dengan penyewa. Ini berlaku terutamanya jika tiada perjanjian bertulis antara tuan rumah dengan penyewa.

Di Malaysia, kecuali di Bahagian 15, Kanun Tanah Negara 1965, tiada undang-undang spesifik berkenaan sewaan. Bahagian 15 itu secara am menggariskan tentang sewaan sebarang hartanah melebihi tiga tahun akan menjadikan sewaan itu pajakan dan perlu didaftarkan di pejabat tanah menggunakan Borang 15A di dalam Kanun Tanah Negara tersebut.

Kebanyakan sewaan yang dilakukan di kalangan orang awam adalah yang tidak melebihi tiga tahun dan jatuh di bawah sewaan.

Studio TV Al-Hijrah

Selain daripada perlunya perjanjian penyewaan untuk menolong tuan rumah mengutip sewa, ia juga diperlukan oleh tuan rumah untuk menekankan kepada penyewa perkara-perkara berikut :

1) Bila dan bagaimana bayaran sewaan perlu dilakukan. Sebagai tuan rumah, saya mendapati cara terbaik untuk memastikan penyewa membayar sewa adalah dengan penyewa memberi cheque post dated selama setahun. Ini akan memastikan sewa masuk tepat pada waktunya;

2) Memastikan keadaan rumah akan dipulangkan dalam keadaan baik. Saya cadangkan agar gambar keadaan rumah sebelum diserahkan kepada penyewa dimasukkan ke dalam Perjanjian Penyewaan dan ia menjadi panduan untuk penyewa memulangkan dalam keadaan yang sama;

3) Terma tentang apa-apa pengubahsuaian di dalam rumah dinyatakan dengan jelas termasuk meminta kebenaran daripada pihak berkuasa tempatan, membayar deposit kepada pihak berkuasa tempatan dan membayar denda, jika ada;

4) Satu senarai barangan samada perabut atau fittings yang diserahkan kepada penyewa dilampirkan dalam Perjanjian Penyewaaan tersebut;

5) Deposit rumah yang penuh dibayar pada masa Perjanjian Penyewaan dan penyerahan kunci dibuat. Ramai yang mengabaikan ini dan menyesal apabila penyewa membuat hal. Deposit biasanya adalah 2 bulan jumlah sewa dan 1 bulan sewa untuk sebarang kegagalan membayar bil utiliti;

6) Satu cara yang baik untuk memastikan tuan rumah tidak dibebankan dengan bil utiliti tidak berbayar adalah dengan mendaftar nama penyewa untuk utiliti tetapi syarikat utiliti biasanya membenarkan ini hanya untuk hartanah komersil;

7) Tuan rumah dan penyewa juga kena jelas tentang perkara paling penting iaitu kenaikan harga sewaan (tempoh masa dan jumlah);

Sebelum segmen saya, tetamu mereka termasuk Fynn Jamal bercakap tentang bayi terbuang

Saya juga pernah ditemuramah oleh BFM Radio mengenai penyewaan hartanah komersil. Temuramah ini boleh didengar di podcast di bawah :

Negotiating Commercial Leases

TV Al-Hijrah - Temuramah Sekmen Hartanah 20.5.2015

Saya akan muncul di segmen Assalamualaikum TV Al-Hijrah pada Rabu, 20.5.2015 di dalam segmen hartanah untuk berkongsi ilmu tentang masalah dan penyelesaian isu-isu yang timbul apabila menyewakan rumah kepada penyewa.

Berikut adalah soalan-soalan yang ditimbulkan oleh penerbit untuk saya terangkan dalam segmen hartanah tersebut (saya salin secara verbatim) :

FOKUS/SIPNOSIS:

Kekecewaan adalah perkataan yang paling tepat untuk digambarkan kepada pemilik rumah yang memberi sewa kepada penyewa yang suka hati mengubah suai rumah dan tidak menjelaskan bayaran sewa tepat pada masanya. Inilah lumrah yang terpaksa dihadapi pemilik rumah yang menyewakan rumah mereka kepada orang lain. Perjanjian awal di antara pemilik dan penyewa sudah  tentu pelbagai kata-kata manis diberikan.

SOALAN :

1. Sebagai penyewa, apa yang perlu anda lakukan apabila menyewa rumah?

2. Apakah yang dibolehkan dan tidak dibolehkan sebagai penyewa untuk melakukan pengubahsuaian rumah?

3. Mengikut Perjanjian sewa rumah, apakah tindakan tuan rumah sekiranya mereka gagal patuhi?

4. Penyewa sukahati ubah meter.

5. Selain itu, sewa bulanan dilambatkan namun masih mampu untuk mengubahsuai rumah tersebut.

6. Kata-kata akhir pesanan kepada penyewa dan tuan rumah.

Saya akan jawap soalan-soalan yang ditanya dalam rancangan Assalamualaikum esok pagi. Rancangan ini berlangsung di antara pukul 8.30 pagi sehingga 10.30 pagi setiap Isnin sehingga Ahad secara live daripada Pusat Penyiaran Digital TV Al-Hijrah di Kompleks Pusat Islam, Kuala Lumpur.

Time to Dig In and Reassess Your Investment

The new year 2015 has brought a new landscape to the investment scenario, either to the property market or the investment market as a whole.

2014 can be called as the year where most investors had expected to make less money but surprisingly, most can claim it was not too bad of a year after all. Most investment funds such as Amanah Saham Bumiputera, real estate unit trust, unit trust and Employee Provident Fund have declared good returns more than what were expected from them. The stock market had climbed to new heights. Property market did return to a semblance of the good old days.

Alas, it didn’t last. By the end of the year, the stock market had turned southward, the oil prices started its sharp decline, the property market started to go soft and the fun is lacking in funds. If statistics are to be trusted, we are expecting 2015 to be a bad year. To add salt to the wound, we are expecting a period of ‘adjustment’ due to the introduction of the Goods and Sales Tax (GST) starting this 1st April 2015 in Malaysia. The words ‘uncertain’, ‘not going to be much impacted’ and the favourite ‘…going to pick up’ are keywords which are being used extensively when the experts are asked what lies ahead. No one will commit that we are heading for a bad time.

For those who had lived long enough, they recognised the next few months as the time to dig in and to reassess their investment. It’s not as if they have never seen it before. Right?

How about the young ones? The ones who had just start their work lives and are just starting to invest in places they thought were good enough for them to get good returns? Should they keep on investing? Should they cut their losses and wait until the market stabilised? Is property still a safe bet?

The answer is simple: It is time to dig in and reassess your investment. It is good to do this every once in a while. You need to understand the concept of holding power and the time to cut your losses.

There are a few rules all property investors or any other type of investors should always keep in mind:

1) ALWAYS RESEARCH WHAT YOU ARE INVESTING IN

Understand the concept of investment, know the product, and know how much you are spending and what your exit strategy is. Before jumping into the water, you should know whether it is cold, warm or hot.

2) ALWAYS KNOW THE SELLER AND MANAGER THOROUGHLY

One of the lessons I’ve learned about investing in property is how important it is to know the seller, be it the property development company, the bank auctioning the property or the seller of the property. Most people do not research properly the seller especially if they buy a property from a housing developer. Past success (or lack thereof) does not ensure future success.

3) RESEARCH THE PRODUCT YOU ARE BUYING

This advice is redundant of the advice No. 1 but this goes to the specifics. This is when you research the place and the type of property you are buying instead of knowing about how to invest in property. As an example, if you shunned areas such as Nilai or KLIA a few years ago, it might be of interest to you to know that the property investment landscape in those areas has changed. People are starting to buy in those areas. If you are looking for deals, this may be a good time but not for long.

4) UNDERSTAND THE COST (APPARENT OR HIDDEN)

People who buy properties should ask a lot of questions until the sale person who handles the queries starts to hate you. In all my years of being a lawyer, I find people are indifferent when it comes to the fees a lawyer can charge and why he/she is charging that much. They only look at the total amount and only care about how much discount they can get from the lawyer without asking why there’s a separate cost for disbursement and what each disbursement is for. I also find people are surprised at the idea of paying monthly charges, quarterly charges and annual charges for their strata properties to pay for monthly maintenance, sinking fund and assessment rate, respectively. When they sell their property, they are again ignorant of the fact of the Real Property Gain Tax that they will have to pay.

5) THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A QUICK RETURN

Everyone wants to make a quick buck. As PT Barnum had allegedly said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” These two rules have made a few enterprising spirits into crooks. The modus operandi maybe different but the rules have never change. There is no easy money. Period.

6) READ

Read the news, read about the change in law, read about the change in the interest rate regime, read about the debate on the implementation of Goods and Sales Tax, read about the debate on lowering of the prices of goods and, finally, read the fine print. Read every single thing. And understand it.

7) YOU CAN ALWAYS EXIT ANYTIME YOU WANT

If you have invested, surely you have read the fine prints and you have planned your exit strategy. Even if your debt is as simple as a credit card, as you aged, wouldn’t you want to close all those cards that are eating up your disposable cash and start to be smarter? If you had bought a property which you planned to rent but it is giving you negative cash flow, shouldn’t you check the market value and see if you can sell it for a good price? Why must you have debts that are not helping you to gain more money?

8) THERE’S ALWAYS OPPORTUNITY EVEN DURING THE BAD TIME

Yes, the oil prices dropped, the ringgit is at its lowest and the economy is going to be bad. Foreign investors are leaving in droves. People are not buying as much as they did a few years ago. If you have kept some money for such times, this is the time to buy properties. There are so many choices in the market. People rather rent than buy. If you had wanted to rent your property, you can start now. If you get good rental, don’t sell the property yet. Check your tenant properly, make sure you have an ironclad tenancy agreement and make sure you can sell the house when you get a good offer.

9) DO NOT STOP INVESTING. THIS TOO SHALL PASS.

As you reassess, exit your investment, recuperate, change tactics and reinvest your money somewhere safer, try to look for opportunities that are less risky. I’ve met so many people who insist in investing in properties but do not have any investment at all in safer portfolio such as ASB or unit trust. They rather take the high risk, high return route as if the winner-takes-all attitude is the only way for investors to live.

10) HAVE MULTIPLE SOURCES OF INCOME

Remember the time when even the government allows for its staff to have business? This happened a few years back. As much as you rely on your salary and allowance for your livelihood, why don’t you make money from what you do in your spare time? If you are a traveller or a cyclist, invite others to join you and you can charge them for organising the tour or event. Make sure you really know what you do and do it well so that the word of mouth will spread. It might just be your next career move.

This was first published as an article with Property Insight Magazine, March 2015 edition http://propertyinsight.com.my/time-to-dig-in-and-reassess-your-investment/

Judge in the Jessup Moot 2015 Competition

I was invited and given the opportunity to be one of the panel of judges in the Jessup Moot 2015 Competition last Saturday, 07.02.2015.

It was an experience I would always remember because the only other time I was involved in the competition was nearly 20 years ago in 1995 when I was a second year student in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia handling the same competition in ILKAP, Institut Latihan Kehakiman dan Perundangan, the training center for those in the judiciary. At that time ILKAP was in Wisma Sime Daby in Kuala Lumpur and not in its current sprawling campus in Bandar Baru Bangi.

How time have changed.

It was a great experience as I was partnered with Session Court Judge, Tuan Hakim Timothy Finlayson and Encik Saiful Izan, the legal officer for Malaysian Red Crescent.

The competing teams were quite good in their submissions of the case and one of them, the UiTM mooting team went on to the finals but was beaten by the eventual winner from University Malaya.

Congratulations to the winner and hope they'll be as good in Washington for the world finals.

Media appearances past few months

It has been a few weeks of non-stop media appearances for me. Some are in articles in news portals, two radio guest appearance and author appearances at one book fair.

For posterity sake, here are those media appearances :

My two articles in The Malaysian Insider :

One is on the issue of Gated and Guarded Community in Malaysia published on 2nd April 2013 :

Whither neighbourliness?

Another is about Affordable Housing in Malaysia published on 19th May 2013 :

Affordable housing : Political Rhetoric or Serious Solution?

Then I answered a question in News Straits Times pullout Real Estate and Decor about discharge of a strata property :

Q & A on 5th April 2013

And my article was published by News Straits Times : Real Estate and Decor about Gated and Guarded Properties in Malaysia on 3rd May 2013 :

One day inside a gated and guarded development

In April and May, I had two radio interviews by BFM Radio both in The Property Show. Here are the podcasts from the show. Here is my interviewer, Azura Rahman, from the show :

First interview was about my new book :

40 More Questions You Should Ask Your Lawyer Before Buying A Residential Property in Malaysia

My second interview was about Malay Reserved lands in Malaysia :

Understanding Malay reserve land

Finally during the recent Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair at PWTC which happened between 26th April and 4th of May 2013, my new book was launched and I made two author appearances at my publisher's booth :

That was it. I just realised I had a busy April and May 2013. It was good to be busy.

You can still get my book here, at True Wealth Sdn Bhd's Book Planet website :

40 More Questions You Should Ask Your Lawyer Before Buying A Residential Property in Malaysia

Credit Reporting Agencies in Malaysia : What is CENTRAL CREDIT REFERENCE INFORMATION SYSTEM (CCRIS) and CREDIT TIP OFF SERVICE (CTOS)?

This is an excerpt from my next book. The book's working title is 40 Questions You Should Ask Your Lawyer Before Taking A Housing Loan in Malaysia, another book under Ask The Lawyer series. I am targeting for it to come out next year, 2014. Do get my new book 40 More Questions You Should Ask Your Lawyer Before Buying a Residential Property in Malaysia here. Any questions, comments and inquiries are welcomed.

CCRIS and CTOS are credit reporting agency, a newly-governed industry in Malaysia. People applying for housing loans in Malaysia will have their financial information checked by the financial institutions they are applying the housing loan to. Here is excerpts for one of the question in my book under the title above :

Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS) is an online credit checking system operated by Bank Negara Malaysia with all Malaysian’s resident’s credit information in the system. As long as that person has an identification card and credit history, he can check his credit history in CCRIS. CCRIS is managed by the Credit Bureau of the Bank Negara Malaysia since 1982 and formed under the Central Bank of Malaysia Act 1958. The Credit Bureau collects the credit information of any borrower from all financial institutions in Malaysia and then issue a credit report when it is requested by any of the financial institutions governed by Bank Negara Malaysia. Central Credit Reference Information System is a computerised database and there is nearly more than nine millions borrowers’ credit information currently being stored by Central Credit Reference Information System. All the information about the function of Credit Bureau and Central Credit Reference Information System, can be found in the Bank Negara website on Credit Bureau : http://creditbureau.bnm.gov.my.

The financial institutions are required to report the name, identification number, address and credit facility details such as type of credit facilities, credit limit, outstanding balance, conduct of account and any legal action status. A borrower can check your Central Credit Reference Information System report at Bank Negara or Bank Negara’s various branches in Malaysia. A borrower cannot ask a representative to check his own Central Credit Reference Information System report. Under the various banking laws including Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989, Islamic Banking Act 1983 and Central Bank of Malaysia Act 1958, confidentiality is imperative in dealing with Central Credit Reference Information System report. It can only be released with a financial institution authorised by an applicant for a housing loan or any other loans to get the Central Credit Reference Information System report from the credit bureau. Upon getting the Central Credit Reference Information System report, the financial institution and its officer can only use it to process the loan and not use it for anything else such as marketing its products

Financial institutions giving housing loans or any other loans to borrowers in Malaysia need up-to-date information about the applicants of the loans. Central Credit Reference Information System is where these financial institutions go in order to get the credit history of the borrower. The Credit Bureau sourced the information from all licensed commercial banks, Islamic banks, investment banks and several other financial institutions. In order to ensure the borrower’s data is up-to-date, verifications are done against the data at the National Registration Department and Companies Commission of Malaysia. Here are the list of information listed in the Central Credit Reference Information System report :-

1.       Outstanding credit including housing loan, hire purchase, credit card, overdraft and personal loan;

2.       Special attention account under close supervision by any financial institution; and

3.       Application for credit

All these three types of information will be for anything under the applicant’s own name, joint name with another person, sole proprietorship, a partnership or a professional body.

Any account fully settled or application rejected, deleted or cancelled are not included in the report. Credit repayment behaviors are listed at the end of the report for outstanding credit report or special attention credit report with 1, 2 or 3 or more stated according to the month in a year for the last twelve months. These can affect certain loan application, including housing loan. Any financial institution processing an application from an applicant of a housing loan will give special attention to any account with late or missed monthly installment payments, high debt servicing ratio between the borrower’s take home income and the debt the borrower already have, high utilisation of approved credit such as credit card, too many loan applications and any loan under litigation or special attention account. Unless it can be disputed, it is good for a borrower to clear some of the debts before applying for a housing loan.

Any borrower can dispute your credit report in Central Credit Reference Information System by first going to the bank which has entered the wrong information and then at any of the Bank Negara branch. Any financial institution supplying the inaccurate report must rectify any inaccurate or incomplete information immediately by sending it to the Credit Bureau. The financial institution is obligated to reflect the latest credit position of the borrower. A data review by the Credit Bureau can be done if the borrower is not satisfied with financial institution. The borrower can get and filled the Request for Data Review form to do a data review. It can be downloaded from the Credit Bureau website and then submitted to any Bank Negara Malaysia’s branches.

Credit Tip Off Service (CTOS) is a different form of credit report used by some financial institutions in Malaysia. Credit Tip Off Service is not related to Bank Negara Malaysia or any government agency and it is not endorsed by any of them. Credit Tip Off Service is run by CTOS Data Systems Sdn Bhd, a private company, better known as CTOS Sdn Bhd. The website for CTOS Sdn Bhd is http://www.ctos.com.my/ with its office in Megan Avenue 1, Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur. CTOS Sdn Bhd collects data made public in news, court filings of legal proceedings allowed to be made public by the court, Companies Commission of Malaysia, information provided by the borrower and any of the borrower’s creditors, people or companies the borrowers registered with such as clubs, memberships and even include utilities companies. CTOS Sdn Bhd also collects a person’s directorship in companies either listed or not and all his sole proprietorship or partnership holdings. CTOS Sdn Bhd is registered under Credit Reporting Agencies Act 2010 and governed by the Securities Commission of Malaysia. Any refusal by CTOS Sdn Bhd to update its record can now be reported.

A few people claimed Credit Tip Off Service is an illegal gathering of information by a private company and is a blacklist. There a few evidence of this as CTOS Sdn Bhd is a company gathering information made public relating to credits and liabilities. CTOS is a lead information system with clients that need to check a particular person or company’s background, especially financials, in their normal course of business such as bankers, legal firm, insurance company and credit card companies. CTOS Sdn Bhd does not update their database or delete a settlement on any of the borrower’s case automatically unless the borrower or the person being checked informs CTOS Sdn Bhd of such matter. CTOS Sdn Bhd also claims it is not a blacklist report. Having a credit report under CTOS Sdn Bhd does not mean an applicant of a housing loan will not get approved. Applicants may receive a rejection from the bank the borrower is applying for a housing loan with the word ‘CTOS issue’ and the best course it to get in touch with CTOS Sdn Bhd to know what is the issue if the bank is unwilling to divulge the information. Getting credit especially a housing loan from a financial institution is still about the borrower proving himself to be credit worthy. Any data from CTOS Sdn Bhd is a public record and a borrower can get this record at his disposal too. A settled court case or a bankruptcy already being settled will have proofs and the borrower can update the financial institution the borrower is applying the housing loan with the proof.

The difference between Central Credit Reference Information System report and Credit Tip Off Service report is the weight given to each report. Most financial institutions give more weight by rejecting a housing loan application when they found the applicant has a ‘CTOS issue’. Central Credit Reference Information System is run by Credit Bureau under Bank Negara Malaysia, with banking laws to back the collection of information. Credit Tip Off Service is not imposed on financial institution as it is not run by any government agency but is supervised by Securities Commision. Other than these two agencies, there are several other credit reporting agencies such as Financial Information Service Sdn Bhd (FIS) and SME Credit Bureau Sdn Bhd. The unscrupulous use of a borrower’s or an individual’s information, especially financial information by any agency under Credit Reporting Act 2010 shall be reported to Securities Commission. With the coming of the Personal Data Protection Act 2010, the usage of personal data on individuals by financial institutions are now under another layer of scrutiny including disallowing the financial institutions’ credit department to divulge an applicant’s or a borrower’s data to its marketing department unless expressly allowed by person.