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August 2014: A Game of Homes – Sea View Wars
A recent Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgment underlines once again the need to properly record any and all agreements relating to your property. Sea views and servitudes: Neighbours at war Cape Town (Bantry Bay) neighbours - let’s call them A and B - whose houses “enjoy spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean which contrib...
July 2014: Immigrants, Visitors and Parents: New Travelling Rules, New Risks
Extensive media coverage of the new Immigration Regulations suggests that they are very likely to be challenged in the courts as unworkable and unconstitutional, but bear in mind that in the interim they remain in force and you are going to have problems if you don’t comply with them. The risks of non-compliance The Regula...
June 2014: Houses, Cohabitation and Co-Ownership
“Communio est mater rixarum” (Roman law maxim meaning “Co-ownership is the mother of disputes”) A recent High Court case highlights once again the dangers of cohabiting without entering into a formal cohabitation agreement, particularly when substantial assets are acquired jointly. Things fall apart - After living as a co...
May 2014: HOAs and Home Businesses
“…..there is nothing contained in our law which prevents a property owner from agreeing to a limitation of its rights…..” (Extract from judgment, below) All Home Owners Associations (“HOAs”) and their home owner members should be aware of a recent High Court judgment addressing the knotty problem of a HOA’s powers to bar an...
April 2014: Your Car Washed, Waxed and Stolen
You leave your precious car for a wax and polish at a car wash, and a thief steals it. Can you sue the car wash for the value of your car? A case in point In a matter recently before the Supreme Court of Appeal, a car owner had left his vehicle (keys inside) at a car wash, agreeing to collect it at lunchtime. However, al...