Selling a property currently let to tenants can be very difficult. Buyers often lose interest very quickly when they hear a property is occupied by tenants. They’ve read alarming stories in newspapers and magazines of property buyers who have struggled for up to a year to evict existing tenants. There are a number of things Property Practitioners can do to assist sellers in selling rented properties,...
Section 3
L5. Fractional Ownership Fractional Ownership is based on the ownership of undivided shares in a property, as opposed to shares in a company or member’s interest in a CC (which may be in contravention of the Share Blocks Act). This can be bonded in the Deeds Office, as the share in the property is a registered real right for which a separate Deed of Transfer can be created for each...
There is really no good reason now for any block of flats or group housing scheme to be run as a share block company, and those that are should be converted to a sectional title. The tax advantage of purchasing in a share block instead of a sectional title scheme was eliminated by SARS in 2002. Share block companies are tricky to run in terms of the requirements of the new Companies and Intellectual...
Immovable property Immovable property refers to land, whether unimproved (i.e. vacant) or improved (i.e. land with permanent improvements such as a house). A piece of land and all the permanent improvements constitute a single entity, namely one immovable property. This means that the permanent improvements cannot be sold independently of the land. It is also not possible to transfer ownership in...
Can you operate a small home business in a cluster home scheme? This question came up for decision in a High Court case, and its findings will not only affect cluster owners in the future but have also served to some extent to determine the conditions under which they may or may not run home-based businesses in a cluster scheme. The Right to Operate a Business in a Residential Area All...
It is becoming an increasingly troublesome issue in the industry: buyers demanding house plans from their sellers, whether this obligation has been placed on the seller in the sale agreement or not. Another headache is arising from this new development – many extensions have been added to the sellers’ homes without proper plans being approved, often without the sellers even being aware of this...
Where the Contract of Lease is breached in any way by the tenant and, after receiving notice thereof, has not remedied such a breach within the period agreed upon, the landlord may cancel the contract. In this instance, the tenant will be found to be an illegal occupier. Where a tenant fails to perform as agreed upon in their Lease agreement, they will be found to be in breach of that agreement. An...
L11. Insolvent Estates The sequestration process involves a Court Application. The Applicant in the Application is either yourself for your own sequestration (voluntary surrender) or the Applicant is one of your creditors (either a friendly or aggressive creditor). The applications are similar, and although there are some different requirements for each, the result is the same. Voluntary...
Interdicts The first thing the attorneys do when there is an interdict is to open a file and do a deeds search. From there they determine the following: Property description. Ownership information. Bonds. Attachments. What happens if there is an attachment (interdict) over the property? Need to obtain the information pertaining to the interdict – NB!!!! Make contact with the...
What is the role of the body corporate? When it comes to sectional title schemes, there is still widespread misunderstanding of even the basics, starting with the body corporate and how it is established, as well as what its functions and powers are. This misunderstanding often gives rise to many problems and disputes in sectional title schemes that could quite easily have been...