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Legalities

Lets look at the law pertaining to Inspections and proper reporting....

RENTAL HOUSING ACT No. 50 of 1999 & AMENDMENT ACT 35 of 2014

ACT

To define the responsibility of Government in respect of rental housing property; to create mechanisms to promote the provision of rental housing property; to promote access to adequate housing through creating mechanisms to ensure the proper functioning of the rental housing market; to make provision for the establishment of Rental Housing Tribunals; to define the functions, powers and duties of such Tribunals; to lay down general principles governing conflict resolution in the rental housing sector; to provide for the facilitation of sound relations between tenants and landlords and for this purpose to lay down general requirements relating to leases; to repeal the Rent Control Act, 1976; and to provide for matters connected therewith.

DEFINITIONS
“dwelling”, includes any house, hostel room, hut, shack, flat, apartment, room, outbuilding, garage or similar structure which is leased, as well as any storeroom, outbuilding. garage or Demarcated parking space which is leased as part of the lease;

3 RELATIONS BETWEEN TENANTS AND LANDLORDS

4A. Rights and obligations of tenants

(4) The tenant must, on request by the landlord, make himself or herself available to conduct a joint inspection of the dwelling at a time convenient for the landlord and tenant, with a view to ascertaining if there is any damage caused to the dwelling during the tenant’s occupation, as contemplated in section 4B(5)

(5) A tenant has the right, during the lease period, to privacy, and should the landlord wish to exercise his or her right of inspection, the inspection must be done in a reasonable manner after reasonable notice to the tenant.

4B. Rights and obligations of landlords

(4) The tenant and the landlord must jointly, before the tenant moves into the dwelling, inspect the dwelling to ascertain the existence of any defects or damage, with a view to determining the landlord’s responsibility for rectifying any defects or damage or with a view to registering any such defects or damage.

(5) At the expiration of the lease, the landlord must arrange a joint inspection of the dwelling at a mutually convenient time to take place within a period of three days prior to such expiration, with a view to ascertaining if there is any damage caused to the dwelling during the tenant’s occupation: Provided that—

(a) failure by the landlord to inspect the dwelling in the presence of the tenant as contemplated in this subsection, is deemed to be an acknowledgement by the landlord that the dwelling is in a good and proper state of repair and the landlord will have no further claim against the tenant; or

(b) should the tenant fail to respond to the landlord’s request for an inspection as contemplated in this subsection, the landlord must, within seven days from the expiration of the lease, inspect the dwelling in order to assess any damages or loss which occurred during the tenancy.

(8) A landlord may inspect the dwelling during the course of the lease, but in doing so must respect the tenant’s right to privacy during the lease period and may only exercise his or her right of inspection in a reasonable manner after giving reasonable notice to the tenant.

Provisions pertaining to leases

(3) A lease will be deemed to include terms, enforceable in a competent court, to the effect that—

(e) the tenant and the landlord must jointly, before the tenant moves into the dwelling. inspect the dwelling to ascertain the existence or not of any defects or damage therein with a view to determining the landlord’s responsibility for rectifying any defects or damage or with a view to registering such defects or damage, as provided for in subsection (7):

(f) at the expiration of the lease the landlord and tenant must arrange a joint inspection of the dwelling at a mutually convenient time to take place within a period of three days prior to such expiration with a view to ascertaining if there was any damage caused to the dwelling during the tenant’s occupation there of;

(g) on the expiration of the lease, the landlord may apply such deposit and interest towards the payment of all amounts for which the tenant is liable under the said lease, including the reasonable cost of repairing damage to the dwelling during the lease period and the cost of replacing lost keys and the balance of the deposit and interest, if any, must then be refunded to the tenant by the landlord not later than 14 days of restoration of the dwelling to the landlord;

(h) the relevant receipts which indicate the costs which the landlord incurred. As contemplated in paragraph (g), must be available to the tenant for inspection as proof of such costs incurred by the landlord;

(j) Failure by the landlord to inspect the dwelling in the presence of the tenant as contemplated in paragraphs (e) or (f) is deemed to be an acknowledgement by the landlord that the dwelling is in a good and proper state of repair, and the landlord will have no further claim against the tenant who must then be refunded, in terms of this subsection, the full deposit plus interest by the landlord;

(k) should the tenant fail to respond to the landlords request for an inspection as contemplated in paragraph (f), the landlord must, on expiration of the lease, inspect the dwelling within seven days from such expiration in order to assess any damages or loss which occurred during the tenancy:

4 RENTAL HOUSING TRIBUNAL

Staff

(1)The staff required for the proper performance of the Tribunal .s functions and the administration of this Act. must be appointed subject to the laws governing the Public Service.
(2) The staff contemplated in subsection (1) may include inspectors, technical advisers, mediators and administrative support staff.

Complaints

(3) For purposes of a hearing contemplated in paragraph (d) of subsection (2), the Tribunal may—

(b) require any inspector to appear before the Tribunal to give evidence, to provide information, or to produce any report or other document concerning inspections conducted which may have a bearing on any complaint received by the Tribunal;

Sale Legalities

Why inspections are important when selling or buying a Property.

How does home inspection fit into the picture of property sales?

Property transfers in South Africa can be very slow. Many sales are delayed as a result of deals being finalised without proper investigation into the financial soundness of home buyers and home sellers, or into the soundness of the property itself.

The three major causes of delays in finalising transfers are:

The failure of home buyers to pay their transfer costs and deposits and purchase price when required to do so;
The failure of home sellers to resolve issues with their bond holders and with SARS;
Disputes over property defects which can cause major delays before the transfer is registered, or even lead to the cancellation of the sale.

Many property buyers when taking occupation of a property discover defects that were not disclosed to them at the time that the sale was finalised. These defects range from hidden damp and wall cracks, to defective alarm systems and swimming pool pumps, from roof leaks and geyser malfunctions to security gate breakdowns.

The Consumer Protection Act

The discovery of defects post sale can lead to “home buyer’s remorse”, to arguments and disputes and sometimes also to expensive legal action.

The new Consumer Protection Act (CPA) which came into force on 1 April 2011 drastically reinforces consumer rights and this new law is part of the wave of consumerism which has been sweeping the Western world. If the experience of other countries is anything to go by, then the rights of South African consumers will become steadily more protected into the future with additional consumer legislation. The protection of the consumer under the CPA will also be sharpened once the provisions of the CPA have been clearly defined in test court cases.

Some of the areas in which the CPA will impact the property industry are:

‘Voetstoots’ sales:

The CPA will prevent the sale of property voetstoots when that sale occurs in the ordinary course of business, unless the purchaser has been expressly informed of the specific condition of the property, including all defects and the purchaser has agreed to accept the property in that condition.

Return of property or refund of all or part of the purchase price:

In terms of the CPA, should the courts decide that an agreement was, in whole or in part, unjust, unreasonable or unfair, then the court may make any order it considers to be just and reasonable in the circumstances. This includes: ordering the seller to return all or part of the purchase price to the buyer, to compensate the buyer for damages and costs and/or to cancel the transaction.

Potential for the SA Home Inspection Industry

The South African home inspection industry has great potential for development. There is currently a shortage of competent and qualified home inspectors who are able to undertake home inspections according to accepted international standards and procedures.

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