Voetstoots

08 Oct 2018

Selling Your House: Disclosing Defects

When you sell anything, our law requires that you deliver it to the buyer without any defects. That’s not easily achieved with property and you should always protect yourself with a voetstoots (“as is” or “without any warranty”) clause in your sale agreement. A recent High Court decision in the case of Van Rooyen v Brown and Another (A3104/2015) [2018] ZAGPJHC 453 again confirms that when it comes to selling your house, honesty is indeed the best policy. Specifically, disclose all defects you know of to potential buyers, or risk expensive litigation and damages claims. Defects and Defences The buyers of…

04 Jan 2016

By Andrew Goldschmidt

Property Sellers: Just how far does your duty to disclose go?

“Where a seller recklessly tells half-truths or knows the facts, but does not reveal them because he or she has not bothered to consider the significance, this may also amount to fraud” (extract from judgment below) Firstly, a note on the CPA What is said below does not pertain to those property sales where the very robust buyer protections in the CPA (Consumer Protection Act) apply. Generally speaking the CPA applies only where the seller is selling “in the ordinary course of business” (a property developer for example), and most private sales will fall outside of the ambit of the CPA. That…