Property owners to face penalties for outstanding condo fees

Property owners with outstanding balances on condominium fees will soon have to face their responsibilities, Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan said on Saturday.

According to Chan, this is the main issue on the table for the current revision of the “legal regime of the common condominiums’ area management.”

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a public event, Chan said that “regardless of whether or not the unit is for sale, the owners are obliged to pay the condominium administration fees,” according to a statement from the Government Information Bureau (GCS).

The secretary recalled that the review now under discussion at the Second Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly is intended to “solve the problems of the late payments of condominium fees, as well as to allow buyers of a unit to know in advance if such a unit has any debts involving condominium fees.”

Chan said the proposed regime may “require that the lawyer or notary in charge of the deal would have the duty to provide such information to both seller and buyer at the time of the transaction.”

She said work on the revision was “proceeding at a good pace.”

At the same event, Chan also commented on the ban in the sale of live poultry in the region, which has been replaced with frozen meat from the mainland.

Questioned on how the poultry could be transported to Macau quickly, Chan explained that “such procedures constitute a market activity” but added that “if there are any companies that want to run such a business, the government of Macau is available to help in the negotiation in order to [ensure a fast] inspection and quarantine [procedure].”

Chan said the government has a vested interest in this issue as it is keen to ensure that the products can be sold in the region in a state that is “as fresh as possible.”