PETALING JAYA: Starting Saturday, legal fees for conveyancing transactions in Peninsular Malaysia will be increased to help lawyers handle rising operating costs. These changes will specifically impact non-contentious matters such as property sales, financing, and tenancies, as stated in the recently gazetted Solicitors’ Remuneration Order (SRO 2023).
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However, there is good news as well. Property transactions from licensed housing developers will automatically receive a reduction of up to 50% in fees, depending on the property’s value.
Senior lawyer Datuk Roger Tan, who represented the Malaysian Bar in the Solicitors Costs Committee (SCC), confirmed the fee changes and the implementation of SRO 2023, which will take effect on Saturday.
“The conveyancing fee for the sale and transfer of property valued at RM500,000 and below will now be 1.25% (previously 1%). For properties valued between RM500,000 and RM7.5mil, the conveyancing fee is now 1%,” added Tan.
These revised conveyancing fees translate to RM2,500 for a property valued at RM200,000, RM6,250 for RM500,000, RM12,250 for RM1.1mil, RM16,250 for RM1.5mil, and RM76,250 for RM7.5mil.
Previously, the fees ranged between RM2,000 and RM48,000 (see table for details).
Tan also confirmed that the SCC approved the new SRO 2023 on July 4. The previous revision was made in March 2017.
The SCC, chaired by Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah, includes Suzana Atan from the Attorney General’s Chambers, Chief Registrar of the Federal Court Azhaniz Teh Azman Teh, and four representatives from the Malaysian Bar led by Tan.
Other committee members are lawyers Chiah Kim Chai, Zemilah Mohd Noor, and Andrew Wong Fook Hin.
In 2005, the SCC approved the Solicitors Remuneration Order 2005, which has now been replaced by SRO 2023. The order serves as a guideline to regulate legal fees for conveyancing matters.
Conveyancing covers non-litigation work, including sale and purchase agreements, tenancy agreements, lease agreements, transfers, loans, and assignments.
Tan stated that while the proposed amendments generally increase the fee scale for non-contentious business, solicitors may offer discounts of up to 25% on these fees.
“The new fee scale under SRO 2023 generally increases the rate of the fee scale for non-contentious business. However, this is necessary to cope with the increased costs for lawyers, which have been particularly acute due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the economy. Lawyers’ operating costs have also risen significantly in recent years,” said Tan.
“I hope the public will treat and respect lawyers as professionals who are bound by this order. Just as doctors are not expected to give discounts, the public should not pressure lawyers to provide unpermitted discounts on prescribed fees,” he added.
“When consulting a lawyer, one should not ask for a discount. The lawyer’s role is to protect and uphold your legal rights as a vendor, purchaser, borrower, landlord, or tenant.” Malaysian Bar president Karen Cheah emphasized the need to increase the scale and fixed fees to ensure lawyers can cope with the current financial situation.
“The Bar initiated the revision exercise to the SRO last year, seeking input from its members in August. Based on the feedback received, the Bar prepared a list of revisions and submitted it to the Chief Judge of Malaya as per the Legal Profession Act 1976 to establish the SCC,” explained Cheah.
“Subsequently, the SCC was established and on March 24, 2023, it accepted and approved the proposed revisions.”
Credit: The Star : News Feed
