Legal Articles and Guides

Buying and selling property can seem to the layperson like a complex process, fraught with arcane legal terminology and risk. Relax, help is at hand! To ease you into the process in clear and plain language, we ask (and answer) nine common questions asked by both buyers and sellers. We include a link to a simple but useful Guide from the Law Society of South Africa, with a discussion around why taking legal advice upfront is a no-brainer for both parties, plus we share some thoughts on planning your finances to avoid nasty surprises, and some pointers to common pitfalls.

A landlord battling a problem tenant may be tempted to bypass the delays and cost of legal action with some robust “self-help” action, like cutting electricity or water, or blocking access to the premises with a change of locks or access cards. The problem is that our law has always frowned on the concept of “taking the law into your own hands”. A landlord doing so acts unlawfully, allowing the tenant a quick and powerful remedy in the form of a “spoliation order”. We discuss what that entails, what the tenant must prove, and (by referring to a recent High Court decision) whether the landlord can successfully argue that a right to an electricity supply is just a “personal right” and thus not covered by the spoliation remedy.

The Schubart Park residents who were moved to Parkview Units, among other complexes, a decade ago, may continue living there for now.

Low interest rates and reduced selling prices are driving an uptick in property sales in several sectors, and if you are one of the many buyers taking advantage of the opportunities now on offer, heed this important warning. It may seem like none of your business whether or not the seller is married, but in fact it is very much your business. As a recent Supreme Court of Appeal case shows, if the seller is married in community of property and his or her spouse does not consent in writing to the sale, you stand to lose the house even after transfer. And you cannot rely on what the seller tells you – you must make “reasonable enquiries” of your own or you could be in trouble.

The Real Estate Business Owners of SA (Rebosa) is taking the Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) to court over failing to issue operating licences on time.

Banks have opposed an application by hundreds of aggrieved customers who have filed an application in the Gauteng High Court seeking certification of a R60bn class action, claiming their homes were unjustly sold in execution for as little as 10% of their market value.

The Western Cape Government said this week that it was disappointed that the Western Cape High Court had decided to appoint three new judges for a new hearing to commence from the beginning in respect of part B in an illegal land occupation court case.

A family who bought a R10m mansion in upmarket Hout Bay is struggling to evict a tenant who has been residing on the property before the previous owner sold it, resulting in a court battle to force him out.

Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato has yet to make a decision regarding the Woodstock Exchange development, which housing activists are eyeing affordable housing.

Our Festive Season is always a busy time for property sales, and this year should be no different – pent up demand, increased affordability, relocations, record low interest rates and availability of bonds are all factors likely to drive a busy property market for at least the next few months.

East London attorneys are under repeated attack from cyber criminals who succeed in duping clients into making online transfers into bank accounts that seemingly belonging to the law firm.

A three-day court hearing to determine the legality, or otherwise, of evicting ‘land invaders’ began in the Western Cape High Court this week and is due to end with a reserved judgment today.

Judgment in Cape Town’s Bromwell Street matter, where residents have taken the City of Cape Town to court over housing, was reserved yesterday.

Judges presiding over an application for leave to appeal a landmark ruling of the contested Tafelberg site in Cape Town have demanded clarity on the status of the sale contract, says a Weekend Argus report.

The urgent bid by a group of waste pickers who were allegedly thrown off a property in Eldoraigne last month has been struck from the roll due to a technical point.