PROPERTY SALES: DON’T BE AN UNREGISTERED CREDIT PROVIDER!
Be careful when buying and selling property that you aren’t held to have lent more than R500,000 to the other party. As a recent High Court case illustrates, that will leave you with no contractual claim to your money. The seller, the buyer, and the loans Having bought a property for R700,000, the buyer paid […]
PROPERTY SELLERS AND ALIEN INVADERS: YOUR NEW DUTY TO DISCLOSE
“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect” (Chief Seathl) Property sellers: Your lives have just been made more difficult, albeit in the best of causes. NEMBA (The National Environmental […]
ATTACKING A TRUST (AND DEFENDING IT)
“Invincibility lies in the defence; the possibility of victory in the attack” (Sun Tzu) It’s an all-too-common scenario. When you try to recover your money from a debtor, you find that all his/her assets (including the luxury home, holiday house and ocean-going yacht) are held by a family or business trust. Creditors: Follow the Assets […]
PROPERTY BUYERS: DON’T PAY THE SELLER’S OLD RATES WITHOUT LEGAL ADVICE!
You buy your dream house but are shocked to learn that (a) the seller still owes the municipality for old rates and taxes and (b) you can’t get a new electricity account unless and until you settle all these arrears. You point out how unfair it is that you are being asked to pay someone […]
HOUSES: TRANSFER TRUMPS INTENTION
“Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward” (Vernon Law) Never assume that you have any rights to a property just because the owner says that he/she intends to give you ownership, even if a sale agreement is signed. Make sure that you actually do take ownership via registration […]
TRANSFER OF A PROPERTY: IS VAT OR TRANSFER DUTY PAYABLE?
A Purchaser is responsible for payment of transfer cost when acquiring an immovable property, but it should further be established if the transaction is subject to the payment of VAT or transfer duty to SARS. When an immovable property is transferred, either VAT or transfer duty is payable. To determine whether VAT or transfer duty […]
PROPERTY FRAUD: BUYERS, BONDHOLDERS BEWARE
“Our system of deeds registration is negative: it does not guarantee the title that appears in the deeds register” (extract from first judgment below)Although in practice title deeds as registered in the Deeds Office are accepted as proof positive of property ownership, two important SCA (Supreme Court of Appeal) decisions illustrate a little-known but potentially […]
HOME OWNERS ASSOCIATIONS: CAN YOU BAN A HOME BUSINESS?
“…there is nothing contained in our law which prevents a property owner from agreeing to a limitation of its rights…” (Extract from judgment, below) All Home Owners Associations (“HOAs”) and their home owner members should be aware of a recent High Court judgment addressing the knotty problem of a HOA’s powers to bar an owner […]
RATES CLEARANCE: A NEW RISK FOR BUYERS?
Property buyers need to be aware of, and protect themselves against, a possible new risk. In a nutshell, you cannot take transfer of a property until the local municipality issues a “rates clearance certificate” confirming that all rates, service charges, levies etc due on the property have been paid in full. Your risk comes from […]
YOU, YOUR NEIGHBOUR, AND YOUR (SUDDENLY STRONGER) DEMOLITION REMEDY
Yet another court decision – this time in the High Court – underlines the growing readiness of courts to order demolition of any building work carried out without approved plans (or otherwise unlawfully). In the case in question, a demolition order was confirmed on the application of a neighbour. In other words, this was a […]