LANDLORDS – CHECK YOUR SURETYSHIPS!
If your tenant is a corporate in financial distress and you find yourself calling up the director’s suretyship, you could be in for a nasty shock if the suretyship isn’t absolutely clear on exactly what the surety is liable for. The reason – our law interprets all suretyships “strictly”, which means that they “may not […]
PROPERTY OWNERS: ARE “OWN RISK” DISCLAIMERS STILL VALID?
Property owners: If you own a property – particularly one “designed for use by the public” (think guest houses, B&Bs, hotels, shopping malls, etc) make sure that you have in place proper disclaimer notices and exemption clauses. Without them, visitors and guests could hold you liable for any loss or injury caused by your negligence. […]
ACT NOW OR FOREVER LOSE THY PROPERTY TAX BREAK
Your home, and the tax break If you hold a residential property in the name of a company, CC or trust read on. You have a golden opportunity to save a huge amount of tax – provided you act now. The background is that SARS wants to lower its administration workload by reducing the number […]
PROPERTY: THE PITFALLS OF JOINT OWNERSHIP
Couples (married and unmarried) often decide to buy their home and/or other property jointly. It may seem like the common sense thing to do, but there are many pitfalls for the unwary. Take advice upfront on the various advantages and disadvantages to be considered – depending on your particular circumstances, these could range from tax […]
BEACH ACCESS BLOCKED? DEVELOPERS AND RIGHTS OF WAY
Beachgoers – your rightsEver since you (and your grandparents, and indeed everyone else in the area) can remember, you have all freely accessed the local beach via a convenient road. Then a developer buys up the land over which the road runs, puts up gates and booms, and restricts access to permit holders only. What […]
AMNESTY TRANSFERS: SUBSTITUTION OF DEBTOR UNDER A BOND: WHEN? WHY?
Some Banks seem to have taken advantage of the Amnesty/Moratorium transfers (allowed by SARS in terms of Schedule 8 of the Income Tax Act) in order to negotiate more favourable mortgage loan terms with their existing customers. This seems to be rather opportunistic and contrary to the spirit of the tax amnesty granted by SARS […]
BUILDING A HOME IN 2013? DON’T LOSE YOUR DEFECT COVER!
If one of your New Year’s Resolutions is to build your own dream home, know that you have strong statutory protections against poor workmanship and structural failure. But you will lose them if you don’t ensure that both – Your builder is (as required by law) registered with the NHBRC (National Home Builder’s Registration Council), […]
SELLERS, APPOINT YOUR OWN CONVEYANCER!
When you sell your property, it‘s your prerogative as Seller to appoint the Conveyancer to attend to the transfer. And it’s important that you appoint an independent/unbiased Conveyancer who will implement the contract and safeguard your interests (and not the Conveyancer recommended by the estate agent). Why is that important? The Conveyancer attends to the […]
UNDUE INFLUENCE BY ESTATE AGENTS IS UNPROFESSIONAL
Estate Agents have an interest in good conveyancing after they have concluded a sale of a Seller’s property. However, they have no business in influencing a Seller to use a conveyancer other than his/her own attorney. Sellers of immovable property have the prerogative to appoint their conveyancers to attend to the transfer of their sold […]
PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS WITH TRUSTS – A RISK TO REMEMBER!
Don’t sell property to, nor buy property from, a trust – until, that is, you have written proof that the person representing the trust is properly authorised to do so. The reason is that all land sale agreements must by law be in writing and signed by both parties i.e. the buyer and seller themselves, […]