Behind on Strata Maintenance Fees? What Your JMB Can and Can't Do After the Court of Appeal Ruling

Short answer: If you owe maintenance fees, your JMB or MC can deactivate your access card, suspend your parking bay and lock you out of shared facilities. What it cannot do is stop you from reaching your own unit. Even with your card switched off, management has to give you another way home.

Two things made this clear in the last week of October 2026: a Court of Appeal ruling on 26 October and a ministerial reply in Parliament three days later.

What changed this week

The Court of Appeal ruling

On 26 October 2026, a three-judge Court of Appeal panel unanimously ruled in SL Land Sdn Bhd & Foong Wei Ching v JMB of Sentral Bazar, Nilai that:

• The JMB acted unlawfully when it refused the owner's directors and agents entry to their units on two dates in 2023.
• Its demand that shareholders be present or give consent before entry had no legal basis.
• An injunction now bars the JMB from blocking the owner's access.
• The JMB must pay RM50,000 in costs for both courts.

The court's reasoning was simple: the regulations allow management to inconvenience a defaulter and keep a record of their entry. That assumes the owner still gets in. Nothing in the law lets a management body keep an owner out.

The ministry's position

On 29 October, Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming said in a Dewan Rakyat reply that management bodies must provide alternative access, even after deactivating a defaulter's card. In practice, that means:

• Defaulters can be asked to register at the guardhouse or sign the visitors' log.
• They can be directed to a basic lift or the stairs.
• Parking in common areas can be suspended, but cars must still be allowed in briefly to drop off passengers or belongings.

He also stressed that these restrictions are a disciplinary tool, not a substitute for recovering the debt. The ministry is reviewing the Strata Management Act 2013.

What management can and can't do

Under the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015, administrative measures can start once 14 days have passed after a notice of outstanding charges.

Cutting water or electricity is not among the measures the minister listed.

The formal ways to recover arrears

1. Demand notices (Form 11 / Form 20)

A JMB serves Form 11; an MC serves Form 20. Ignoring one is an offence under section 34(3) of the Act. According to a law firm's summary of the provisions, the penalty is a fine of up to RM5,000, up to three years' jail or both, plus up to RM50 a day for a continuing offence.

2. Strata Management Tribunal

• Claims of up to RM250,000 each.
• Lawyers are generally not allowed, which keeps costs down for straightforward fee disputes.
• An award must be made within 150 days of the first hearing.
• Ignoring an award carries a fine of up to RM250,000, up to three years' jail or both.

3. Seizure through the Commissioner of Buildings

Management can apply to the Commissioner of Buildings (COB) for a warrant to list the defaulter's movable property in the unit, which can then be auctioned under COB supervision to settle the debt.

If you're the one in arrears

1. Get a full statement of account and check it for errors or double charges.
2. Ask for an instalment plan if money is genuinely tight. The ministry has encouraged management bodies to offer them.
3. Use the alternative access if your card is switched off. Registering at the guardhouse is a lawful condition. If you're being kept out of the unit itself, the Court of Appeal ruling and the minister's reply are what to point to.
4. Dispute charges at the Tribunal, not by withholding payment. Arrears expose you to legal action on their own.

If you pay on time or sit on the JMB

Every unpaid account is cleaning, security, lift maintenance and sinking fund that someone else ends up carrying.

JomGuide's view: for owners who can pay but choose not to, suspending a gym pass is a weak deterrent. Management bodies are better off acting early within the law, suspending facilities once the 14-day notice lapses, and then moving to Form 11/20 and the Tribunal rather than letting arrears pile up. That is fairer to the residents who pay. The one line no pressure tactic can cross is keeping an owner out of their home.

Buying a condo? Budget the fees as part of your instalment

Buyers tend to focus on the housing loan and forget that maintenance fees and sinking fund are a fixed monthly cost that only goes up.

For example, a RM2,200 loan instalment plus RM350 in fees means you are really committing RM2,550 a month. Before you buy, ask the management office how much the fees are, when they were last revised and how many owners are in arrears. Buildings with high arrears often show it in their upkeep.

FAQ

Can management lock me out over unpaid fees?

No. The Court of Appeal has ruled that a management body cannot stop an owner from entering their own unit.

My access card has been deactivated. How do I get home?

Register at the guardhouse or sign the visitors' log, then use the basic lift or the stairs.

Can they suspend my parking bay?

Common-area parking can be suspended, but your car must still be allowed in temporarily to drop off passengers or items.

Does recovering arrears always mean going to court?

No. Management can serve Form 11 or Form 20, then file at the Strata Management Tribunal for claims up to RM250,000, usually without lawyers.

I'm a tenant and my card stopped working. What now?

The arrears belong to the owner, so tell your landlord and keep your tenancy and payment records. The court and the minister addressed owners' access, so confirm the arrangement for tenants with both your landlord and management.