Bad neighbours can make life in a complex unbearable. The good news is that our law provides several quick and effective ways to protect yourself and your family from the tyrant next door. We discuss three options that may be open to victims in the context of a recent High Court fight between two neighbours in a complex that included allegations of verbal and physical abuse, threats, and harassment. We all want to leave our loved ones as financially secure as possible when we die. But tha...

Your will could be the most important document you ever sign. A recent court fight over a poorly-drafted joint will is a stark reminder to make sure that every word in it is correct.  In a worst-case scenario, bad drafting will not only subject your loved ones to bitterly-contested litigation but can also put your last wishes at risk of not being honoured at all. All perhaps for the want of just one word.  We’ll explain what went wrong in the case in question and show yo...

Homeowners Associations (HOAs) and Bodies Corporate take note! A recent High Court decision confirms that you cannot enforce your rules and regulations inconsistently.  At stake in this case was an HOA’s instruction to a homeowner to remove his “mirror finish” garage door, which contravened one of the estate’s architectural rules.  But, as some damning photographs of other mirrored doors proved, the HOA had seemingly not enforced that rule consistently&hell...

It’s an exciting time, buying a property. But don’t let your guard down – cybercriminals love the lucrative pickings on offer from property transactions, and they never sleep! We’ll discuss the recent Supreme Court of Appeal case of a widow who, in trying to pay over the purchase price of a house, lost her R5.5m when her email system was hacked and she fell victim to a textbook email scam. Why did the SCA rule against her? How should she have protected herself? We&rsquo...

As Samuel Goldwyn humorously put it: “A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.” To illustrate, we analyse a recent High Court fight over an agent’s claim to have been given a verbal mandate to find a development property for a buyer. The agent was found to have fulfilled her mandate, and the Court awarded her commission even though the sale agreement had been cancelled before transfer. The developer is left with a R450k (plus costs) bill, and no pr...