Your Body Corporate and Arrear Levies: To Sequestrate or Not To Sequestrate?

Debt Recovery, Insolvency / Liquidation, Litigation, Property / Law DotNews

“…aye, there’s the rub” (Shakespeare) Levies are the lifeblood of a sectional title scheme, and the Body Corporate has a duty to recover arrears from defaulting owners. It has the power, in addition to following standard debt collection procedures and perhaps approaching the Community Schemes Ombud for assistance, to apply for the sequestration of the […]

Your Body Corporate and Arrear Levies: To Sequestrate or Not To Sequestrate? Read More »

Suing Your Security Company: The Case of a Burgled Butchery

Criminal Law / Crime, General Interest, Litigation / Law DotNews

“Somewhat ironically, given the fact that the phrase “not a sausage” is originally derived from the Cockney rhyming slang “sausages and mash” meaning “cash”, they got away with not a sausage from the butchery but a great deal of cash” (extract from judgment below) When you employ a security company to provide alarm monitoring and

Suing Your Security Company: The Case of a Burgled Butchery Read More »

Lending Money Repayable “On Demand”: Beware Prescription!

Credit Law, Debt Recovery, Litigation / Law DotNews

“…prescription started its deadly trudge on the day the loan at issue in these proceedings was advanced” (extract from judgment below) You will know that most debts prescribe (become unclaimable) after 3 years, so as a creditor you need to know exactly when it starts running. From that moment on, the clock is ticking… A recent Constitutional Court

Lending Money Repayable “On Demand”: Beware Prescription! Read More »

How to Escape from a Property Suretyship

Company / Corporate / Compliance, Litigation, Property / Law DotNews

“Suretyship is the precursor of ruin” (Thales of Miletus, one of the Seven Sages of Ancient Greece) As the philosopher and mathematician Thales pointed out two and a half millennia ago, signing surety for another’s debts carries huge risk. Yet every day directors of property holding companies happily sign personal suretyships for their company’s (usually

How to Escape from a Property Suretyship Read More »

men businessman showing empty pockets hiding behind wads of mone

Suing an Insolvent Debtor – Can You Recover from his Trust?

Debt Recovery, Insolvency / Liquidation, Litigation, Trusts / Law DotNews

Your debtor owes you a fortune, but when his estate is sequestrated there is nothing in his own name. However you find out that he is trustee of a wealthy family trust with lots of assets that you think are really his – can you recover from his trust? The answer is yes, you can,

Suing an Insolvent Debtor – Can You Recover from his Trust? Read More »

Facebook Defamation – The Truth is not Enough!

Delict and Civil Claims, Litigation / Law DotNews

You are engaged in a bitter dispute – perhaps it’s a fight over money, a family feud or a messy divorce, a disaffected employee or a vengeful neighbour. You decide to resort to Social Media “to tell the truth” about your nemesis. You feel totally safe doing so – after all, our Constitution protects our

Facebook Defamation – The Truth is not Enough! Read More »

Landlord v Tenant: Consider the Tribunal Dispute Resolution Option

Dispute Resolution, Litigation, Property / Law DotNews

“Agree, for the law is costly” (Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman lawyer and statesman) We all know how easy it is for misunderstandings and disputes to arise between landlords and tenants, and whilst most can be resolved with a bit of open communication and negotiation, sometimes independent intervention is needed. Enter the Rental Housing Tribunal, which

Landlord v Tenant: Consider the Tribunal Dispute Resolution Option Read More »