Does the Consumer Protection Act Protect Every Tenant?
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” (attributed to Mark Twain) A married couple moved to Australia and rented out their South African family home while they tested the waters Down Under. Years later, once they had decided to remain abroad, […]
One Bad Letter and Your Eviction Falls Apart
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” (George Bernard Shaw) Many landlords assume that once a tenant stops paying rent, an eviction order will inevitably follow. A recent Western Cape High Court judgment shows how wrong that assumption can be. Despite rental arrears of more than R46,000 and […]
Landlords: You cannot cut a defaulting tenant’s water and electricity
Many a landlord is tempted to go the “self-help” route when non-paying tenants refuse to pay up and also refuse to leave. Holding costs mount with not a cent in rental income to show for it, the landlord gets desperate and locks are changed, access codes blocked, electricity and water cut off. But what if, […]
Eviction Refused – Landowners, Unlawful Occupiers And The “Just And Equitable” Test
“PIE recognises that in appropriate circumstances the right to full exercise of ownership must give way, in the interest of justice and equity, to the right of vulnerable persons to a home.” (Extract from judgment below) “Unlawful occupiers” of land have strong rights under our Constitution and other laws, and most property owners and landlords […]