Living in a gated community? Pay your security and maintenance fees, or open the gates yourself~
How many of us have experienced this? Certain neighbors who want to continue living in a gated community, but refusing to pay the monthly fees, and yet expect the same treatment as those who pay.
Well things may soon begin to change.
Yesterday, the Federal Court upheld an earlier Court of Appeal decision allowing the Parkville Residents Association to create a rule whereby non-paying residents of Parkville Sunway Damansara have to open the boom-gates themselves without the assistance of security guards, thereby dismissing an appeal by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ).
The MBPJ, the relevant local council under the Local Government Act 1976, objected to the said rule after receiving complaints from non-paying residents of Parkville.
The MBPJ argued that the said rule discriminated against residents who do not participate in a guarded gate community, which was against their guidelines for gated communities.
The issue went to court after the MBPJ threatened to revoke the approval for the Parkville Residents Association’s guarded community scheme.
In the Court of Appeal decision, which the Federal Court has upheld as correct and unerring, the Court of Appeal allowed the Parkville Residents Association’s judicial review to quash MBPJ’s decision. The Court had found that it was “unfair and unreasonable for non-paying residents to enjoy the benefits of a guarded community without making any contribution towards it”.
Conclusion:
By refusing to answer the questions posed by the MBPJ, the Federal Court affirms the Court of Appeal’s adoption of the principle espoused in the Au Kean Hoe v D’Villa Equestrian [2015] 4 MLJ 204 decision; that forcing residents who do not pay the monthly security fee to open the boom-gates themselves was “not an actionable nuisance but only an inconvenience which had to be undergone in the interest of the community as a whole”.
This decision will have consequences, as more gated communities may soon adopt a similar rule. It is very common to have non-paying or non-participating member living within a gated community.