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January 2022 | Can Your Tenant Claim a Lockdown Rental Remission?
'); document.write('Amongst the pandemic’s many economic victims are the restaurants, hotels and other venues closed or partially closed by lockdown regulations. Unable to trade, many have asked their landlords for rental relief. Others have claimed a legal entitlement to remission of rentals, citing “supervening impossibility of performance”. Commercial landlords and their tenants both need to understand their respective rights and obligations when a disaster of this nature strikes. A recent Hi...'); document.write('
December 2021 | Selling Your Home: How to be Lucky this Holiday Season
'); document.write('If you plan to take advantage of the Holiday Season to sell your house, your first prize will of course be finding the best buyer, at the best price, as quickly as possible. As always, there’s a degree of luck involved, but you can to a great extent “make your own luck”. So we’ll discuss the two elements of a “lucky sale” and then share some ideas on how to maximise them. Firstly, there should be a good number of qualified buyers around this y...'); document.write('
November 2021 | Community Scheme Disputes and the Ombud’s Powers to Resolve Them
'); document.write('“Community scheme” living has many advantages, but disputes come with the territory and that’s where the conciliation and alternative dispute resolution services offered by the CSOS (Community Schemes Ombud Service) come into the picture. We’ll start off discussing what disputes you can refer to the Ombud and talk about why a recent High Court decision means that, barring exceptional circumstances, you cannot go direct to a court. A group of loft owners in an inner-city...'); document.write('
October 2021 | Property Sellers: Why, How and When to Choose Your Own Conveyancer
'); document.write('When you sell your house (or indeed any other property) you are almost certainly dealing with a transaction of major financial importance to you. You will therefore want to do everything you can to ensure a smooth and professional transfer process, with the purchase price being paid out to you as soon as possible. First step in achieving that is choosing the right conveyancer (transferring attorney) for the job. We discuss why every transfer needs to be carried out by a conveyancer, why you ...'); document.write('
September 2021 | Estate Planning and Wills: A Checklist to Protect Your Family
'); document.write('We find ourselves in the midst of a deadly pandemic, yet incredibly stats suggest that up to 80% of South Africans have no “Last Will and Testament” in place. We discuss firstly how and why leaving your loved ones a will as part of a full estate plan will protect them, in their hour of greatest need, from unnecessary uncertainty, worry and risk. We move on to share a simple 15-point checklist which will help you leave a lasting legacy to your family, maximised and structured to lo...'); document.write('
August 2021 | Employee Looting and Strike Violence: When Is Dismissal Fair?
'); document.write('Employee looting or violence may be strike-related or it may occur in non-workplace scenarios such as the recent public lawlessness we have all seen splashed across our screens. In both cases, employers need to tread with care. We’ll firstly address the scenario of strike action and labour unrest. As we shall see, the spectre of summary dismissal hangs over the head of any striker found guilty of violent or intimidatory conduct, but will dismissal be considered a fair sanction for strike...'); document.write('
July 2021 | Buying Property from a Company – Should You Buy the Shares or the House?
'); document.write('Buying the house of your dreams presents you with much excitement but also with a number of choices. For example, if the property is held in a company the seller might offer you the choice of buying the company shares. That way you effectively get ownership of the house without all the delay and cost of a regular property transfer. What should you do? We discuss some of the main factors you should consider, and also address the old question of whether you could save yourself a bundle of money...'); document.write('
June 2021 | 11 POPIA Questions to Ask Yourself Before 30 June 2021
'); document.write('By midnight on 30 June 2021 you must be fully compliant with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) if you in any way process any personal information relating to a “data subject”. Very few businesses and organisations will fall outside that net, and even fewer will fall into any of the exemptions. The risks of non-compliance are substantial. By way of a last-minute recap we suggest eleven important questions you should be asking yourself and your business well before d...'); document.write('
May 2021 | Landlord Liable for a Tragic “Freak” Flood Drowning
'); document.write('Landlords need to be aware that they risk being sued if their tenants suffer any loss whilst on their premises. We discuss the principles involved with reference to the tragic High Court case of a toddler drowned when the riverside chalet in which his family was holidaying was subjected to a “freak” overnight flood. The Court had to decide whether or not the guest farm owner was liable for damages, and in doing so it examined the core questions of whether the owner was guilty of ...'); document.write('
April 2021 | Who Gets the House on Divorce?
'); document.write('Our divorce rate has reportedly surged with all the stresses and strains of the lockdown, and from both a financial and an emotional perspective any married couple contemplating a split (and equally anyone yet to marry), should understand how our law addresses the question of who gets the family house in the event of divorce. We discuss the importance of the marital regime, the practicalities of changing ownership where necessary, the question of what happens to the bond if the house is mort...'); document.write('
March 2021 | Buying and Selling Property: Nine Important Questions
'); document.write('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...'); document.write('
February 2021 | Arrest and a Criminal Record for Not Wearing a Mask
'); document.write('With media reports of arrest and a criminal record for those caught flouting the laws on wearing a face mask in public, we discuss both the circumstances in which you risk arrest, and the substantial downsides of acquiring a criminal record. Why is a criminal record to be avoided at all costs? How can you get rid of a record if you do end up with one? We address both questions with a focus on the “admission of guilt fine” option you are likely to be offered after arrest ...'); document.write('
January 2021 | Building a Home in 2021: The Dangers of Not Being NHBRC Compliant
'); document.write('2021 and its “work anywhere, live anywhere” new normal could be a great time to build a house – perhaps a new home to live/work in, perhaps a house for investment or holidays. Regardless, both building contractors and their landowning clients need to understand how vital it is to comply with the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act. Is registration of the contractor with the NHBRC (National Home Builders Registration Council) enough? What happens if you fail to comply?...'); document.write('
December 2020 | Before You Buy or Sell Property this Festive Season…
'); document.write('If you are thinking of buying or selling property during the Festive Season (which is again this year showing signs of living up to its reputation as a particularly busy time for the property market) don\'t neglect the legal aspects. There are many pitfalls awaiting the unwary and rushing into anything without taking proper advice upfront is likely to lead to tears. We list 12 reasons why bringing your attorney into the picture as early as possible in the process is a no-brainer. Use our c...'); document.write('
November 2020 | Parking Bay Disputes – Enforcing Complex Rules
'); document.write('A common source of friction in community schemes is parking spaces. Homeowners Association and Body Corporate rules are aimed at regulating usage of parking areas but what happens when the rules haven’t been enforced? Are they taken to have been waived and therefore unenforceable? And what happens if they are enforced, but only on a selective and discriminatory basis? We investigate those questions in the context of a fight by a HOA to enforce its rules prohibiting homeowners from park...'); document.write('
October 2020 | Is Your Will Valid?
'); document.write('We live in particularly dangerous times, and making sure that our affairs are in order is perhaps even more vital for us all than before. Leaving a will in place is of course the only way to properly protect your loved ones after you are gone. Take steps now to ensure that it will be accepted as valid and that there is as little danger as possible of it being challenged in any way. That’s not as straightforward as it may seem, and there are many pitfalls awaiting the unwary. We disc...'); document.write('
September 2020 | Property: Don’t Pay Double Commission!
'); document.write('Property sellers face enough challenges in these tough times without finding themselves liable to pay two full sets of commission to different estate agencies. As a recent High Court case shows, when multiple agencies market your property and more than one agency engages with the eventual buyer on one level or another, confusion and dispute can all too easily arise over which agency was the “effective cause” of the sale. And our courts may award commission to both agencies &ldquo...'); document.write('
August 2020 | Property: Green Shoots, Agent’s Commission and Fidelity Fund Certificates
'); document.write('If you are thinking of buying property, now might well be the perfect time with the pandemic having pushed down both prices and interest rates. The other side of the coin of course is that both sellers and estate agents will be looking with hope at the first green shoots of a market recovery, so it’s a good time to remember that an agent’s entitlement to commission is dependent on holding a valid and current fidelity fund certificate. What happens though if an agen...'); document.write('
July 2020 | Electronic Signatures in Property and Other Transactions
'); document.write('Even when the COVID-19 pandemic finally starts easing off and social distancing is no longer the norm in our business and private lives, we will continue to benefit hugely from being able to enter into contracts and to complete important documents remotely. It’s important for us all to understand how our laws enable that, to know when electronic documents are accepted as being “in writing” and when “electronic signatures” are allowed and in what form (in b...'); document.write('
June 2020 | Lockdown! Nuisance Neighbours and How to Handle Them
'); document.write('Nuisance neighbours have been with us since the dawn of civilization, and nothing has changed in the modern world. All too often even minor disputes turn into bitter and expensive “neighbours-at-war” litigation. With so many of us now confined to our homes in a time of heightened tension and stress, even the smallest irritations from next door may well be escalating out of control. Let’s look at what you can do about it if that happens to you. What are your legal rights?...'); document.write('