What is a Deed of Assignment
In Malaysia, we have the Torrens System in respect of our Land Law. Modelled just like the system used in Australia, immovable properties are issued Documents of Title (some call them “Grants”) to prove ownership of such properties. It is just like the Registration Card for motor vehicles which endorses the ownership of the vehicle. Now, what happens when the property – say, a newly constructed landed house or apartment, has not been issued the relevant Document of Title? This may happen because when a developer develops a piece of land, the developer usually has not submitted an application to the Land Office to carve out the piece of land into individual lots. This is where a Deed of Assignment comes into place.
A Deed of Assignment is a document or agreement which an assignor (the transferor) states his promise that from the date of the assignment or any date stipulated therein, the assignor assigns his ownership in that property to the assignee (transferee). A simple illustration would be when the developer signs a Deed of Assignment to transfer their ownership of that piece of property to the purchaser. When that purchaser decides to sell that property to a subsequent purchaser and the Document of Title has yet to be issued, the purchaser will sign a Deed of Assignment assigning his rights under the original Deed of Assignment to the subsequent purchaser. This will go on until the Document of Title is issued.
The Deed of Assignment stipulates what kind of rights have been assigned and usually in the case of sale and purchase of immovable property, full rights are assigned. It also documents the flow of ownership from owner to purchaser and subsequent purchasers where applicable. So, if a property has changed hands, say 10 times, the Deed of Assignment in the hands of the 10th owner would have a recital (usually on the 1st page) which talks about the history of this property changing hands from A to B to C and so forth till the current owner.
It goes without saying therefore that the Deed of Assignment is a very important document which should be kept in a safe and secure place. When the Document of Title is issued, you will need it to prove that you are the current owner and that you have the full rights to have the ownership transferred from the original owner (as shown on the Document of Title) directly to you, as the current owner.
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5 Responses to “What is a Deed of Assignment”
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can a deed of assignment be created for a tax refund issue as well ? i am a non – resident, and the company i was working for in malaysia has asked me to sign on a deed of assignment document which gives them the right to claim any tax refunds i might get from the IRB post my tax calculation being done. Is this particular form of the deed of assignment document really neccessary for the purpose of filing tax return and completing the income tax clearance process in malaysia ?
I just bought a double story link house where the individual title just been issued and yet to transfer to the vendor? Eventually we like to do the transfer of title directly from the Vendor to me, but unfortunately we cant get consent from the Land office as the developer refuse to pay some penalty served to them.
Is Deed of Assignment can be applied in this case? since the individual title has already out but the vendor yet to do title transfer.
What is the different between direct transfer and thru assignment?
Is that risky to me?
Leslie : If the title has been issued, then your solicitor must insist that the property be transfered to you by registering your name on the title, rather than assignment. The Vendor has to follow up with the developer to ensure that the individual title is issued. If assignment is used, then you may have to bear the burden later.
can a deed of assignment be created for tenancy contract ? i ve signed a tenancy agreement with a landlord and later sign a back2back sub tenant agreement with another 3rd party (non – resident). Upon finding out that i had sublet the house a 3rd party. The landlord asked me to sign on a deed of assignment document which gives him the right to claim the rental from the 3rd party. Is this particular form of the deed of assignment can be applied in this case?
I asked a debt collecting ageny for the deed of assignment off the lending bank and was told by thm they didn’t need one as the bank had mearly refered the debt to them
Can this be true