(1) The 2010 Amendments to Land Titles (Strata) Act

Land Titles (Strata) (Amendment) Act 2010 (No 13 of 2010) (“2010 Amendment Act”)

Land Titles (Strata) Act (Amendment of Schedules) Order 2010 (“LTSA Order 2010”)

These Notes are intended for general information only and are not exhaustive. Reference should be made to the actual LTSA, the 2010 Amendment Act and the LTSA Order 2010 for their full meaning and effect.

The 2010 Amendment Act came into force on 15 July 2010. Inter alia, the following main changes affect an application made to the Strata Titles Boards for an order for collective sale of property:-

MEDIATION BY THE STRATA TITLES BOARDS  

1)	A key amendment is the provision for the transfer to the High Court of applications for approval of collective sales of strata and other developments which cannot be successfully mediated by a Strata Titles Board. (i)   All applications for an order for collective sale of property must firstly be made to the Strata Titles Boards where it will proceed to mediation. If the application cannot be successfully settled at mediation within 60 days or less, the Strata Titles Board will issue a Stop Order upon there still being objections filed against the application. Thereafter the applicants who wish to proceed with the collective sale, may apply to the High court for approval of the collective sale. (ii)   Such application to the High Court must be made within 14 days after the Board issued its stop order. Objections may be filed against the application to the High Court in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Rules of Court. Only objections from persons who had filed objections against the application to a Strata Titles Board and containing the same grounds of objections are permissible. (iii)   Where one or more objections have been filed in relation to that application, the Board must mediate matters that are in dispute between the objectors and the applicants within a maximum of 60 continuous days. If all objections to the application are withdrawn before the end of that period, the Strata Titles Board must approve the application and order the collective sale unless the Board is satisfied that the transaction is not in good faith after taking into account the factors listed in section 84A(9). Approval may be given regardless of there being subsidiary proprietors who have not signed the collective sale agreement but who have stayed silent and not filed any objections to the application. (iv)   If however, one or more of the objections filed against the application are not withdrawn at the end of the period of 60 days, the Strata Titles Board must issue a stop order which is an order for a discontinuance of all proceedings before it in connection with that application. (v)   A Strata Titles Board must give seven (7) days’ notice, of its intention to make a stop order, to every objector who filed an objection to that application and the authorised representatives of the applicants. If, at the end of a period of 7 days after the notice was so served of those parties, one or more of those objections so filed remain not withdrawn the Board may make the stop order. (vi)   A Strata Titles Board has the power, in approving any collective sale application, to order or direct minority owners to share in the costs of the collective sale, notwithstanding that they did not sign the collective sale agreement.
NOTICES BY ORDINARY MAIL
2)	The notices to keep parties informed before a collective sale application is made may be sent by ordinary mail instead of being placed in mailboxes. This is because some mailboxes are locked to prevent junk mail and only the postal service has access to the mailboxes.
RAISED LEVEL OF SUPPORT FOR CONVENING GENERAL MEETING TO PROCEED WITH COLLECTIVE SALE
3)	(i)   To discourage repeated attempts to convene general meetings so as to obtain the requisite consent of the subsidiary proprietors thereof to proceed with a collective sale, amendments have been made to raise the level of support for a requisition for a general meeting of the management corporation to be held to discuss a collective sale. If the meeting is proposed to be held within 2 years of a previous failed attempt happening on or after the date the amendments come into operation,the first requisition in that period of 2 years after a failed attempt must be made by at least 50% of the total number of subsidiary proprietors or by subsidiary proprietors owning at least 50% of the aggregate share values of all lots in the strata title plan. For a second or subsequent attempt within the 2 years the requisition must be made by at least 80% of the total number of subsidiary proprietors or subsidiary proprietors owning at least 80% of the aggregate share values of all lots in the strata title plan. (ii)   For non-strata developments, the first requisition for a subsequent general meeting in the 2 years following a failed attempt must be made by at least 50% of the total number of proprietors of flats or proprietors who own at least 50% share of the land or 50% notional share of the land, as the case may be. In the case of non-strata developments, a second or subsequent attempt within the 2 years must be made by at least 80% of the total number of proprietors of flats or proprietors of flats who own at least 80% share of the land or 80% notional share of the land, as the case may be. (iii)   Generally a failed attempt means an instance:- (a) where the quorum for a general meeting to discuss a collective sale is not met, (b) when the motion for a collective sale is defeated at the general meeting, (c) the collective sale agreement expires without an application to a Board or the High Court being made or approved, (d) where a collective sale committee stands dissolved at the end of 12 months after the collective sale committee is constituted and no collective sale agreement had been executed by any subsidiary proprietor (see new paragraph 12(2) of the Third Schedule ), or (e) where all members of the collective sale committee are removed without replacement. (iv)   A general meeting convened for the purposes of a collective sale will stand automatically dissolved if the quorum is not present within an hour after the start of the meeting. This is to ensure that there is sufficient representation from the subsidiary proprietors and flat owners to discuss issues connected with a collective sale of their development.
MISCELLANEOUS CHANGES TO COMPOSITION, CONSTITUTION AND PROCEEDINGS OF COLLECTIVE SALE COMMITTEE
4)	CONFLICT OF INTEREST (i)   A would-be member must declare any conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest at the general meeting before he is elected, and if he fails to do so, his election is void. A member of a collective sale committee must also declare to the chairperson of the collective sale committee, any conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest within 7 days after he becomes aware of it. For any serving member of collective sale committees when the amendments come into force, he has 30 days after the operative date of the amendments to make the declaration. The collective sale committee has then to affix notice of that declaration on a conspicuous part of each building comprised in the strata title plan or development, within 7 days of the making of that declaration. REMOVAL OF MEMBER OF COLLECTIVE SALE COMMITTEE (ii)   A collective sale committee may remove any member of the committee if the member is a subsidiary proprietor who has not signed the collective sale agreement and an application has been made to a Strata Titles Board for approval of that collective sale. Once the requisite level of support has been obtained for a collective sale application to be made to a Strata Titles Board and the application is made, a member of the collective sales committee who has refused to sign the collective sale agreement ceases to have any relevant role on the collective sale committee. WHERE THERE ARE ONLY TWO SUSBSIDIARY PROPRIETORS OF A STRATA DEVELOPMENT (iii)   In any strata developments where there are only 2 subsidiary proprietors, the quorum for a meeting  to convene the collective sale committee shall consist of the presence of the member who owns more than 50% of the aggregate share value of all lots in the strata development.  The collective sale committee's decision will be based on the decision of the subsidiary proprietor who owns more than 50% of the aggregate share value of all lots in the strata development. MEETINGS TO INFORM ON UPDATES (iv)   Updates pertaining to the consent level, the sale proposal and process, the number of bids and bid amounts, and the terms and conditions of the sale and purchase agreement with the eventual buyer, will be required to be done by way of meetings among the subsidiary proprietors, instead of general meetings, which was the case prior to the operative date of the amendments. AUTOMATIC DISSOLUTION OF COLLECTIVE SALE COMMITTEE (v)   In the case where a collective sale committee has not received any signatories to its collective sale agreement within a period of 12 months after it is constituted, the collective sale committee will be automatically dissolved.  For collective sale committees in existence when the amendment takes effect, the period is 12 months after the date the amendment comes into force. This amendment does not prevent the subsidiary proprietors from earlier dissolving the collective sale committee at a general meeting.

(2) The 2007 Amendments to Land Titles (Strata) Act

Land Titles (Strata) Act (Cap 158, 2009 Rev Ed) (“LTSA”)

Land Titles (Strata) (Amendment) Act 2007 (No 46 of 2007) (“2007 Amendment Act”)

These Notes are intended for general information only and are not exhaustive. Reference should be made to the actual LTSA and the 2007 Amendment Act for their full meaning and effect.

The 2007 Amendment Act came into force on 4 October 2007. Inter alia, the following main changes affect an application made to the Strata Titles Boards for an order for collective sale of property :-