AS a way to promote civic pride and encourage residents to beautify and keep their verges well maintained in a sustainable way, the Somerset Park Home Owners’ Association in partnership with eThekwini Municipality recently held only its second Verge Competition.   Read the article…………………………….

When purchasing property in an estate, owners may be required to form part of the Homeowner’s Association (HOA), whose key obligation is to apply and enforce the estate’s regulations and procedures.   Read the article…………………………….

Buying a house in an estate differs in a number of ways from buying a freestanding house in a suburb. While you gain a lot in terms of security and lifestyle benefits, there are also added costs and rules that you need to adhere to.  Estate living is not just about security and lifestyle, but […]

If you are a trustee of a homeowner’s association (HOA) or residential body corporate (RBC), you may be overlooking critical insurance gaps  One common oversight is fidelity insurance, and the required cover needed.  Since the 2016 amendments to the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act 8 of 2011 (STSMA), fidelity insurance has become mandatory for RBCs.  […]

Homeowners’ Associations (HOAs) are facing scrutiny over exclusive service agreements that limit residents’ choices for essential services, notably internet providers.  Spokesperson for the Competition Commission Siya Makunga reports an increase in complaints, as many HOAs monopolise service providers, particularly in internet access, leading to higher costs and reduced quality.   Read the article…………………………….

Homeowners associations (HOAs) in South Africa need to apply their rules consistently and fairly, or else they could face unnecessary and costly legal proceedings that could have easily been avoided.   Legal experts at Wright Rose-Innes laid out a recent court case where an HOA was taken to task over ‘selective’ application of its rules.    Read […]

Tax experts have reminded Homeowners’ associations (HOAs) that they must apply for tax exemption with SARS or risk being saddled with massive historical tax debts.  In 2023, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) published its latest guidelines for tax-exempt institutions, alerting Home Owner Associations (HOA) to their tax obligations.   Read the article…………………………….

Industry experts have warned that estates, complexes, and other residential areas run through centralised decision-making are harming residents and potentially property values by limiting choice when it comes to fundamental service providers.   Read the article…………………………….

When a township development is approved by a municipality, a statutory condition is usually imposed that the developer must establish a Home Owners Association (hereinafter referred to as “HOA”) and subsequently a HOA condition is created in the title deeds of the properties in the development.  Read the article…………………………….

In the case of Reddy and Another v Cedar Lakes Homeowners Association NPC and Others, the Johannesburg High Court reversed the findings of an Adjudicator appointed in terms of the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act, 2011 (“the Act”). The court found that the Adjudicator had failed to account for relevant evidence and that his application […]

Real Estate Business Owners of South Africa (Rebosa) have highlighted that HOA profit-making practices are an ongoing concern in South Africa – a major problem for both homeowners and estate agents.  Rebosa flagged in February that some Homeowners Associations (HOAs) – responsible for managing such communities – are also involved in unlawful profit-making practices that […]

The Mooikloof Glen Estates Home Owners Association took a stand owner to the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria in an effort to seize his stand after he failed to build a house within a year of buying the piece of land.  Read the article…………………………….

It doesn’t matter if you’re a potential tenant, first-time home owner, investor owner, new family, empty nester or retired, if you’re looking for a community of like-minded individuals, with a mutual interest in protecting your investment with priorities of security, aesthetics, financial stability and maintaining value, then community scheme living is for you.    Read the […]

In the sprawling green expanse of Johannesburg’s elite Eagle Canyon Golf Estate, a conflict has hatched that echoes far beyond its manicured lawns and gleaming facade. The dispute is not about the rising price of property or a disagreement over the color of a fence. It’s a battle about governance, about power, about the right […]

A month ago, Minister of Human Settlements, Mmamoloko Kubayi, delivered an address at the Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) Indaba in which she said that community schemes (which include sectional title complexes, homeowners’ associations, retirement housing schemes, share block companies and housing cooperatives) should be subject to mandatory ‘economic transformation’.   Read the article………………………..

An innovative way to create jobs for previously disadvantaged people? Or, as the Democratic Alliance claim, a scheme aimed at capturing gated communities for B-BBEE companies connected to cadres”?   Read the article………………………..

A resident and homeowner at an upmarket Johannesburg golf estate will no longer be able to call on the Community Scheme Ombud Service to resolve the disputes between her and the homeowners association.   Read the article………………………..

Savoy Estate Residents Association (Sera) and Waverley Ratepayers Residents Homeowners Association (WRRHA)’s vision for Weinberg Family Park includes: planting trees, maintaining infrastructure, and fixing the fencing.   Read the article………………………..

South Africans building in an estate must ensure construction remains on track or face costly fines.  Legal firm Wright Rose-Innes has noted a spike in clients who have received a large penalty on their monthly levy account from their corporate body or homeowner’s association for not starting/completing the building of a property on their estate’s […]

The Chapman’s Bay Estate Homeowners’ Association has lost its application to review and set aside an adjudication order by dispute resolution resource the Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) on levies that the association imposed on a property.  Read the article………………………..

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has published its 2023 guidelines for tax-exempt institutions, alerting Home Owner Associations (HOA) to their tax obligations.  While HOAs are partially exempt institutions, they are still subject to some obligations, SARS said.   Read the article………………………..

The duties of body corporate trustees and HOA directors reached the next level of complexity when “asbestos management” was effectively added to their compliance checklist.   Read the article………………………..

THE City of Cape Town has presented Kuilsriver residents with a proposal to end the protracted dispute over the erection of a security gate.  Read the article………………………..

Much has already been said about the Property Practitioners Act (PPA) and Regulations which came into effect on 1 February and the immediate effects on consumers in the property sector as well as all the estate agents, brokers, property managers, auctioneers, bond originators, bridging financiers and home inspectors that fall under its ambit.   Read the […]

Balwin Properties has lost its case against unit owners of the Blyde Riverwalk Estate in Pretoria.  In a ground-breaking ruling the Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) ruled that changes to the regulations at the estate were to be set aside.    Read the entire article……………………………….

There is trouble brewing in paradise, as homeowners living at Pretoria’s “beach” are clashing with the property developers over new regulations within The Blyde Riverwalk Estate.   Read the entire article……………………………….

With the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia) coming into effect on Thursday (1 July), community housing schemes need to urgently appoint their official information officers and ensure that they are registered with the Information Regulator, says Andrew Schaefer, managing director of property management company Trafalgar.    Read the entire article……………………………….

Being a good neighbour means enjoying the comfort and convenience of your home without interfering with your neighbours, and vice versa.  Neighbour disputes are common, often relating to things such as noise, parking and encroaching trees.    Read the article……………………………….

The duties of directors of property development-related associations have at times been an uncertain area of law – one could argue that many associations have seen themselves as somewhat “special” and “separate” from the Companies Act. In many instances believing that only the Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI) is applicable, often forgetting that contract law, being […]

The Act provides for personal information to be kept in such a way that it is protected from unauthorised access – by computer hackers, for example – and for it not to be sold to or exchanged with any other organisation.   Read the article……………………………………

A residential complex in Bloubergstrand tried to stop one resident from habitually using visitor parking, because he has three vehicles and one of his two garages is full of other stuff.   Read the article……………………………..

If you live in an estate, you know that there are always those who are reluctant and slow to pay their monthly levies – and a few who won’t pay at all until the homeowners’ association (HOA) has already started to take legal action against them.   Read the article…………………………