When property management does not have enough money to pay water bills – kopiandproperty.com
Property Investment 101: When property management does not have enough money to pay water bills
RM1.4 million water bill!
Article in nst.com.my Some 2,000 residents in an apartment have been stranded without water for the past two days.
This occurred after the property management allegedly failed to settle outstanding water bills totaling RM1.4 million.
K. Thanalatchumy, 40, a resident said, “Employees from Syarikat Air Johor (SAJ) cut off the water supply yesterday due to the management’s inability to pay the accumulated bills from past years.”
“More than 2,000 residents are currently affected by the water shortage.”
Thanalatchumy, who has lived in the apartment she purchased 13 years ago, recounted that when residents confronted management, they were informed that “our bank accounts are almost empty.” Please do read the full article here: Article in nst.com.my
How did the bill balloon to RM1.4 million?
I did some estimations. If the apartment is now 13 years old and the bill is RM1.4 million, that’s roughly RM100,000 water bills per year which was unpaid. I am not sure but I think the amount seems to be huge if that’s just water bill. Perhaps it includes fines etc? Anyway, the question is, how come Syarikat Air Johor (SAI) took action only when the bill reached RM1.4 million?
If the amount is so huge, then it will be much harder for any quick actions to be taken. Even if we talk about restructuring the amount payable, this would also be harder to do because the payment may still be lower than the new accumulation of water bills. No details were mentioned in the article but I think all stakeholders have to do their part too.
Essential to look at the property management and accounts prior to buying
Before we buy into any property, it’s important to also look into the accounts of the apartment / condo we will be buying. If it has a super long list of units not paying their dues, I think we need to exercise caution already. Reason is because even if we pay, there’s a chance that what we pay may not be sufficient to maintain the development properly.
Remember, when the maintenance suffers, the property price will also be pressured downwards too. We may also face the potential inconveniences like lift being out of order for a long time, swimming pools which are dirty and of course the unavailability of water like this current example.
Beware of what we buy / invest. It’s too expensive to make a bad decision.
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