Lawyers lawyers lawyers……

As i mentioned before, either u hate them or you love them. Thats pretty much what we did, love and hate them.

Lawyer firms in Malaysia are pretty complex. Some are one-man show lawyer firms while others are so called “MNC”(big) equivalent (with numerous partners). Well it might be the same for the rest of the world, but its certainly an eye opener for me when it comes to dealing with them.

Through our recent home buying deal, we learnt a painful lesson that we would like to share with all first time home buyers. This lesson is unique in a way that you will not learn it from any books. (Hmmm Would be a good topic for my ebook)

Lesson No 1 - Predetermined your Banker

The Bank you engage for your end-financing services will determined the law firm that you will work with. 

As such, before engaging the services of any lawyer firm, first predetermined the Bank. Different banks in Malaysia have different requirements on the lawyer firms that is “allowed” to do the loan processing. They have the so-called “Panel” lawyers that will be given the privilege to engage with you on loan documentations.

Therefore, once you have narrowed down your home loan choices to a few banks (ie 2-3), obtain the names of the law firms that is on the banks panel. Best case scenario would be to hire a lawyer who is on all 3 banks (of your choice) panel of lawyers. If this is not doable,  then rank and rate the banks of your choice based on the offer letter, and hire the lawyers accordingly.

Ultimate goal is to be able to hire the same law firm for your Loan Documentation with the bank as well as engaging them to handle your Sales and Purchase Agreement with the developer. In Malaysia, the developers are usually pretty lax on the law firms that is used to represent the home buyer. On the other hand, Banks are very reluctant to work with Law firms that are not on their panel.

Rule of thumb - Foreign banks tend to prefer “MNC”(big) law firms due to their higher malpractice insurance coverage while most local banks are comfortable working with one-man show firms. Hence, Predetermined your bank and the bank will determined your lawyer firm.

 Tags: Lawyers, Lawyer, Banker, Malaysia, Home, Property, Properties, Law Firms