A joint management body (JMB) cannot rely on its house rules to stop residents from keeping pets in their own units altogether, the Shah Alam High Court ruled on Oct 30 in a case brought by former national hurdler Noraseela Mohd Khalid against the JMB of Shang Villa Condominium.
Noraseela, who keeps three cats in her unit, had challenged the condominium’s House Rule 9.0. Her lawyers, Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh Sohanpal, said the court partially allowed her application and declared that the rule could not be invoked against her for the mere fact of owning the cats.
The court held that having a pet in a residential unit is not in itself a breach of house rules. Any enforcement action, it said, must be based on By-law 14 of the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015 and backed by evidence tying a specific animal to a nuisance, danger or other prohibited situation.
The JMB had pointed to complaints that the cats were not properly looked after and had soiled common areas. The court found such general complaints insufficient, as the evidence did not show that her cats were to blame. A neighbour supported her account, and veterinary certificates showed the cats were in good health.
The court further declared invalid and unenforceable the parts of House Rule 9.0 that let management remove animals from common property without notifying their owners and that excluded liability for any resulting loss, to the extent they bypassed the notice procedure and safeguards in By-law 14.
In her application, Noraseela argued that the blanket ban went beyond the Strata Management Act 2013. She cited Section 70(2), which prohibits house rules that conflict with the Act, and Section 150, which she said allows a JMB to regulate but not ban the keeping of pets. She also contended the ban was disproportionate under Article 8 of the Federal Constitution and interfered with her property rights under Article 13.
Her lawyers said the decision does not prevent genuine complaints about animals from being dealt with, but management must act on evidence rather than assume every pet is a problem. Under By-law 14, an owner whose animal is shown to cause nuisance or danger can be given written notice to remove it within three days, failing which management may remove the animal and recover the costs. The regulations apply in Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan, while Sabah and Sarawak have separate strata laws.
This article is general information, not legal advice. For advice on your own situation, speak to a lawyer.