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If you have any thoughts of buying property this summer, you’ve picked a good time to do it. We’ll discuss why that is and then we’ll share some crucial factors to consider before you make an offer. Whether you’re a first-time buyer or a seasoned investor looking to expand your property portfolio, these tips will guide you towards a successful purchase.  Read the full article for expert guidance that’ll help make your property purchase smooth and stress-free&...

Bad neighbours can make life in a complex unbearable. The good news is that our law provides several quick and effective ways to protect yourself and your family from the tyrant next door. We discuss three options that may be open to victims in the context of a recent High Court fight between two neighbours in a complex that included allegations of verbal and physical abuse, threats, and harassment. We all want to leave our loved ones as financially secure as possible when we die. But tha...

Your will could be the most important document you ever sign. A recent court fight over a poorly-drafted joint will is a stark reminder to make sure that every word in it is correct.  In a worst-case scenario, bad drafting will not only subject your loved ones to bitterly-contested litigation but can also put your last wishes at risk of not being honoured at all. All perhaps for the want of just one word.  We’ll explain what went wrong in the case in question and show yo...

Homeowners Associations (HOAs) and Bodies Corporate take note! A recent High Court decision confirms that you cannot enforce your rules and regulations inconsistently.  At stake in this case was an HOA’s instruction to a homeowner to remove his “mirror finish” garage door, which contravened one of the estate’s architectural rules.  But, as some damning photographs of other mirrored doors proved, the HOA had seemingly not enforced that rule consistently&hell...

It’s an exciting time, buying a property. But don’t let your guard down – cybercriminals love the lucrative pickings on offer from property transactions, and they never sleep! We’ll discuss the recent Supreme Court of Appeal case of a widow who, in trying to pay over the purchase price of a house, lost her R5.5m when her email system was hacked and she fell victim to a textbook email scam. Why did the SCA rule against her? How should she have protected herself? We&rsquo...

As Samuel Goldwyn humorously put it: “A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.” To illustrate, we analyse a recent High Court fight over an agent’s claim to have been given a verbal mandate to find a development property for a buyer. The agent was found to have fulfilled her mandate, and the Court awarded her commission even though the sale agreement had been cancelled before transfer. The developer is left with a R450k (plus costs) bill, and no pr...

Your will is probably the most important document you will ever sign, and a recent Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) decision confirms once again how critical it is to ensure that it is professionally drawn to reflect your wishes clearly and unambiguously.  Let’s explore the legal principles involved and the “golden rule of interpretation” in the context of a bitter dispute between a financially-struggling widow on the one hand, and her three step-children on the other. Each...

Imagine what a disaster it would be if, after you have bought your new dream house and moved the family in, you are told you must vacate immediately because no “occupancy certificate” was ever issued. How can that be? What is an occupancy certificate? Is it vital to have one? Is there a general duty on a seller to provide you with one? We address those questions in the context of a recent High Court decision which confirms that it’s up to you to protect yourself in that regar...

Making a counter-offer to an offer to purchase can be an excellent negotiating tactic in trying to reach consensus so you can finalise a binding sale agreement.  But beware of the concept of “conditional acceptance”. It is actually a rejection of the offer, and you very likely have no valid sale at all unless both parties now agree on the proposed amendments and counter-sign them. We illustrate the dangers of losing sight of this principle in the context of a recent High Court...

If, after a property buyer has taken transfer, it turns out that a structure on the property is unlawful for lack of local authority planning permission and approved plans, who must fix the problem? Does the buyer have any claim against the seller? We address those questions in the context of the general rule that building permission is legally required before any construction can begin. We discuss also why both parties should take steps upfront to avoid any disputes over the issue – why...

If you find yourself being driven to distraction by nuisance from a neighbour’s business operation, and if all your efforts to find a peaceful compromise have come to nought, it’s time to consider going the legal route. That’s never first prize with neighbours, but if they leave you no choice it’s off to court you go. We discuss the outcomes of two cases involving businesses being conducted by neighbours in breach of the local land use laws. To end off, we’ll shar...

Property sale levels always surge in the Holiday Season, so it’s a good time to remind sellers (and their buyers) of the various compliance certificates that may be needed before transfer can be registered.  Sellers in particular should prepare as soon as possible to have the necessary inspections and remedial work carried out as any delays on that side can impact badly on the timing of the whole transfer. Read on for our checklist of the five compliance certificates you may need&...

Buying or selling property is a big deal for most of us, and no one wants to be in the position of a couple who, having viewed a house advertised as “a renovator’s dream”, signed an offer to purchase immediately but then changed their minds.  Too late! The seller had already accepted the offer, creating a binding sale agreement. The buyers’ breach left them liable to pay the agents their commission - a costly mistake which they could easily have avoided. We discuss...

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, a good time to focus on the fact that cybercriminals are targeting more and more property transactions. If you are selling or buying property, keep your guard up! In the context of yet another High Court dispute over who will bear the loss of a substantial amount of money paid by a buyer into a fraudster’s bank account, we discuss the risks and share some tips on how to minimise them. Lastly, there’s a warning about a new and significant A...

A critical element in ensuring our children’s welfare after we are gone is of course providing for them financially. But that involves more than just drawing a will. Your will must be structured correctly, and an important aspect of that is to protect minor children’s inheritances until they turn eighteen. Otherwise, those inheritances might well end up in the government-run Guardian’s Fund. We’ll explain why that’s not a great idea at all, and we’ll suggest...

You and your family move into your new dream home full of happy anticipation but then it rains, and your roof leaks. Badly.  As you run around with buckets and towels while trying to find a roof repairer available at short notice, you wonder whether you can sue the seller. We’ll address that question with reference to a recent Supreme Court of Appeal judgment concerning a flooded-out guest house and a seller who denied fraudulent non-disclosure of roof defects.In days of yore, a wri...

In what format must your property sale agreement be, and what terms and conditions must it incorporate for it to be valid and enforceable? We’ll address that question with reference to a recent Supreme Court of Appeal fight over a R4.5m sale of land which was declared void after 7 years of confusion, delay, and wasted opportunity. All because the parties failed to include in their sale agreement a term relating to the subdivision of one of the pieces of land being sold. Our discussion co...

You sell a property but when it comes to the crunch the buyer can’t pay the required deposit. You have to cancel the sale and can only resell at a lower price and by paying an estate agent to help you. Can you claim damages to cover all your losses from the defaulting buyer? Or perhaps you are on the other side of the coin, a buyer about to sign a sale agreement. How certain should you be that you can meet all the obligations you are committing yourself to, and what happens if you breach...

Most businesses will at some stage or another ask their employees to work overtime.  That’s great if your employees are happy to do so. But if you think you might ever meet resistance and have to force the issue, know that you must have in place a valid agreement to work overtime before you can enforce any such instruction. A recent Labour Court case highlights the downsides of having no agreement in place, or of having such an agreement in place but failing to understand that th...

Few investment portfolios will be complete without an element of property exposure. Of course, how much that exposure should be is a function of your own particular goals and needs, of your investment horizon, of your tolerance for risk, of your current and projected financial status and so on. The point is that property can be a great wealth-builder, particularly for investors after steady income combined with capital growth, but it does need a structured and informed approach to provide maxi...