Dalam perkara ini, keengganan Defendan mematuhi remedi yang diperuntukkan di bawah seksyen 34 Akta Pengurusan Strata 2013 tersebut dan keengganan Defendan membuat tuntutan tunggakan caj penyelenggaraan tersebut di forum yang bersesuaian, adalah suatu tindakan yang tidak wajar. Perkara ini telah diputuskan oleh Leong Wai Hong JC (pada ketika itu) dalam kes Phua Ah Gek & Ors v Tan Yew Lai Development Sdn Bhd & Anor [2024] MLJU 470 seperti yang berikut: “[43] The accounts in the form of a table produced by the first defendant do not show the periods of alleged arrears. What the table shows is just an alleged amount outstanding as at June 2022 from each of the plaintiffs. [See first defendant’s Reply Affidavit Enclosure 11 at paragraph 8 and Exhibit TYL- 1 PDF pages 21 - 29]. [44] I view the first defendant’s table as a bare allegation unsupported by particulars. In any event, this Court will not allow the first defendant to hold the 72 plaintiffs here to ransom. If the first defendant feels it has a valid claim, which is not proven to me at this stage, as I can see a defence of limitation available to the plaintiffs since the alleged arrears claimed by the First defendant accrued on 26-04-2012, the first defendant is perfectly entitled to file a suit and prove its claim in a court of law. I draw support for this proposition from Lee Ming Chong Sdn Bhd v Prudential Properties Sdn Bhd [2012] 8 MLJ 1 HC Lee Swee Seng JC. [45] In Lee Ming Chong Sdn Bhd v Prudential Properties Sdn Bhd [2012] 8 MLJ 1 HC Lee Swee Seng JC said - [22] Had the developer applied for strata titles timeously to the whole Imbi Plaza, purchasers would not have this problem seeing that the principal SPA was signed as long ago as 17 October 1992. Why should a purchaser be subject to more conditions to fulfill when a similar purchaser of an office lot with a strata title issued would not ever need to seek the developer’s consent for anything when the purchaser should want to dispose of his property? [23] Even if there is room for the developer to reserve a residue of discretion to withhold consent, such a clause is totally inconsistent with the whole scheme and structure of the sale of the property where a strata title is to be issued seeing that the purchaser having paid the full purchase price to the developer owes the developer no further obligation consistent with the purchaser’s right as the absolute beneficial owner of the property with the developer being a bare trustee. [24] Judging the conduct of the giving or withholding consent to the assignment in the conveyancing context of a purchaser who had paid the full purchase price to the property, I would say any imposition of any conditions should be viewed with much circumspection as the only reason for coming back to the developer is more for administrative expediency than having to fulfill any continuing obligations on the part of the purchaser. The developer will have the continuing obligation to ensure that the strata title once issued is duly registered in the name of the purchaser and for so long as the developer delays in applying for the strata title it will be saddled with this continuing obligation. [25] It was further argued for the developer that the purchaser has a continuing obligation to pay service charges quarterly in advance to the developer in as much as the developer has an obligation to maintain the common properties under section 4.01(b) of the principal SPA. Whilst that may be so, any dispute between the two must be sorted out in a court of law and any non-payment must be by way of the developer suing under a debt due to it. [26] Even under the new scheme of the Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2007 which came into force on 12 April 2007, a joint management body (‘JMB’) comes into being pending the issuance of the strata titles where the JMB provides the service of maintaining the common properties and any non-payment is to be sorted out either by a quick system of attachment of the moveables in the property and by way of recovery as a civil debt. [27] Likewise when strata titles are issued and the management corporation comes into being under the Strata Titles Act 1985, it takes over the obligation to maintain the common properties and there is no provision where if a purchaser has service charges in arrears then he cannot dispose of his property now held under a strata title. [28] How a developer can arrogate to itself the power to hold a purchaser to ransom until it settles what in this case is disputed service charges before granting its consent to the property to be disposed of, smacks of high-handedness and not a little haughtiness. [Emphasis added] [46] In conclusion, on issue 3, I hold that a developer, like the first defendant here, cannot refuse to transfer titles to purchasers who have fully paid up their purchase prices, like the plaintiffs here, on the alleged ground that maintenance charges are still owed to the developer. If there is such a dispute the developer should sue to establish his claim in a court of law. The developer should put his money where his mouth is.”.