Eviction Archives - Ashersons Attorneys

02 Oct 2020

Landlords and Tenants: Alert Level 1 and the New Eviction Rules

Landlords and tenants alike should understand the regulations applicable to tenant evictions during the National State of Disaster. Many tenants are of course finding it hard to meet their monthly rental commitments, whilst landlords still have to fund their ongoing expenses and will be keen to be rid of problem tenants preventing them from doing so. That requires a careful balancing act, and to help you we summarise some highlights of the current regulations, with practical notes for both parties on how to navigate these hard times successfully. The flood of lockdown lay-offs and salary reductions has left many tenants…

01 Aug 2019

By Ashersons Attorneys

Unlawful Occupiers: Eviction Is Possible, but Neither Quick nor Easy

“Buy land” said Mark Twain, “they’re not making it anymore.” With the first green shoots of a property market recovery supposedly now showing through perhaps this is indeed the time to take his advice. Just be sure, if the property you have your eye on is occupied by anyone, to seek proper legal advice on the occupiers’ legal position before you put pen to paper. We all know that unlawful property occupiers enjoy substantial constitutional and statutory rights, and a recent High Court case provides a good example of the fact that whilst it is certainly possible to evict unlawful…

04 Mar 2019

By Ashersons Attorneys

Property Buyers: Beware Unlawful Occupiers!

If you plan to buy a house before the property market starts to recover from its present doldrums, be aware of the risks you face if anyone is currently in the property. A recent High Court decision of Pure Capital Property Trading CC v Hanslo and Others (15217/2018) [2018] ZAWCHC 137 illustrates the danger of your being unable to evict unwelcome occupiers who point-blank refuse to leave. We’ll analyse that decision, and the lessons to be learned from it, after summarising the two things that PIE (the Prevention of Illegal Eviction From and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act) requires you…

06 Jul 2017

By Andrew Goldschmidt

Evicting Your Troublesome Tenant: More Problems with PIE

“The effect of PIE is not and should not be to effectively expropriate the rights of the landowner in favour of unlawful occupiers. The landowner retains the protection against arbitrary deprivation of property. Properly applied, PIE should serve merely to delay or suspend the exercise of the landowner’s full property rights until a determination has been made whether it is just and equitable to evict the unlawful occupiers and under what conditions.” Buy-to-let property can be an excellent investment. Just take into account the possible difficulty, cost and delay of evicting a defaulting tenant – or indeed any unlawful occupier -…

31 Aug 2016

By Ashersons Attorneys

A Home Owner Can Be Evicted As An Unlawful Occupier

Did you know that even as the owner of a house, you could still be evicted from it as an “unlawful occupier”? That could happen if, to take one example from a recent Supreme Court of Appeal matter (A Hendricks v M Hendricks & Others (20519/14) [2015] ZASCA 165), you give someone else a right of habitation (“habitatio”). But why, you may ask, would you do that? Useful tools for property owners Our law provides you with a range of useful tools to make the most of your property, including several different types of occupational and usage rights. For instance you…

10 Dec 2015

By Mame Amoateng

Beware: Ownership does not necessarily make you the “King of the Castle”

On the 26 November 2015, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) delivered judgment in the case of A Hendricks v M Hendricks & others 2015 ZASCA 165 [PDF] holding that an owner who occupies property without the consent of the holder of a right of habitation in respect of that property is an unlawful occupier under the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (the PIE Act) and may be evicted from the property under certain circumstances. The matter came before the SCA after two appeals from the Somerset West Magistrate’s Court and the Western Cape High…