Property Sellers – Prepare for SPLUMA

Property Sellers – Prepare for SPLUMA

Many factors can delay your property transfer, and all of them are likely to cost you. A last-minute rush to comply with statutory requirements is one such pitfall to avoid. Beware therefore of the possibility that you will soon need (in some parts of the country you may already need), to lodge before transfer a formal “SPLUMA” (Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act) certificate of compliance. SPLUMA, without getting too technical, provides a framework for all provinces and municipalities to pass laws governing land use and development. There is (at date of writing) some confusion over what is actually…
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Property Sales and Trusts: Demand Proof of Trustee Authority

Property Sales and Trusts: Demand Proof of Trustee Authority

Selling property to a trust comes with a particular risk, and it’s one that - although easily avoidable - still seems to catch sellers unawares on a regular basis. Not checking that the trustee/s signing the offer to purchase/deed of sale are fully authorised to do so could leave you with no sale at all! Let's start from the beginning - you are overjoyed at receiving a good offer for your property – not easily achieved in these hard times and of course you certainly don’t want to do anything to jeopardise the sale. But perhaps do that little bit…
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Buying And Selling Property:  The Bond Clause Blues, And How To Beat Them

Buying And Selling Property: The Bond Clause Blues, And How To Beat Them

“Men keep agreements when it is to the advantage of neither to break them” (Solon, Athenian lawgiver c. 638 BC - 559 BC) Here’s the story of yet another High Court battle over a disputed property sale agreement.  A fight over how to interpret the “bond clause” again highlighted how vital it is to clearly express the intentions of both the seller and the buyer in every word of the agreement. A seller gets cold feet (the facts) The seller sold a property to the buyer for R1,62m, payable on registration of transfer. The bond clause made the sale conditional…
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