Judge lashes Standard Bank and its lawyers
A couple who fell into arrears on their home loan and were about to lose everything are breathing easier after KZN High Court judge ruled against Standard Bank, which was found to have made false allegations in its attempt to repossess the house.
Standard Bank had claimed that the couple had arrears of R93 606 and was calling in their outstanding loan of R382 000 with a view to selling the property via auction.
However, the bank was found to have served summons to a post office box owned by the couple and not to the couple in person as is required.
In what a report in The Mercury describes as ‘a scathing judgment’, Judge Jacqueline Henriques said she would direct that the judgment and application papers be sent to the Legal Practice Council, KZN, as well as to the Banking Services Ombudsman.
Henriques found Standard Bank guilty of failing to disclose payments made by the couple to settle the arrears and held a bank official and the bank’s lawyer responsible.
She said the bank’s lawyers had failed in their duty not only to the court, but also to the bank official, to ensure that she provided an affidavit that was factually correct, notes The Mercury report.
Rejecting Standard Bank’s application, the judge said: ‘In keeping with the principle of judicial oversight and the duty of a bank official as well as a plaintiff to make full and frank disclosure in an affidavit and disclose all relevant circumstances to a court in such application, which has dire consequences for defendants, I have no alternative but to refuse the application for default judgment as well as execution.’
The judge said the bank official had made incorrect statements in her affidavit regarding the couple’s arrears, payment history and the assistance offered to the defendants before the action was instituted.
She also said Standard Bank’s attorneys had failed to provide full disclosure of the facts of the case before the court, contrary to rule 46A of the court rules and section 26 of the Constitution which guarantees the right to adequate housing.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
