There is a common misconception amongst sectional title owners that the trustees of the body corporate are more important than the ordinary members of the body corporate, with the chairperson being the most important of them all. This misconception stems from the fact that the trustees are seen to have the power to make certain…
The Netherlands government tackles insufficient provision for future maintenance costs and ensures scheme information is generally available. Apartment ownership has been a feature of the Netherlands legal system since 1951. Before that various forms of contractual arrangements, mostly cooperatives, were used to secure tenure to particular apartments. Many of these older arrangements are still in…
Do the words Hylotrupes Bajulus, Oxypleuris Nodieri , Anobium Punctatum , Lyctus Brunneus ,Bostrycidae, Phoracantha, Stenocellis Hylostoides, Nicobium Castaniun, Ondontotermes Badius , Macrotermes swaziae, Ernobius Molus or Xylocopidae mean anything to you? Me neither. But they should. These words that at first appear to be swear words in a foreign language, in fact refer to…
The Concept Fractional means “being a part / fraction of a whole ”. So “fractional ownership” should mean “part ownership” and, in the context of real property, “part ownership of the property”. Where a group of three friends buy and take transfer of undivided one-third shares in one conventional or sectional property, for example a…
When buying an apartment in a sectional title scheme, is it necessary to be more careful when you sign on the dotted line than you would have to be if you were buying a free standing home? Yes, with hindsight being a perfect science, it might be worth your while to ask some specific questions…
Paddocks in association with Clint Riddin presented the Sectional Title Bookkeeping Course workshop in Johannesburg on the 14th and 15th of October 2009. We had a great interactive group of 26 students attending this workshop. The Cape Town workshop will be held on the 22nd and 23rd of October 2009. Keep a look out for…
All votes at general meetings in sectional title schemes can be cast either personally or by proxy. In this article we spell out the law in respect of proxies appointed by sectional title owners. How does an owner appoint a proxy? Prescribed management rule (“PMR”) 67 provides that a proxy (representative) must be appointed in…
By Charles Baker I was recently requested to chair the Annual General Meeting of a local KwaZulu‐Natal sectional title body corporate. The members wanted a reliable and independent person to guide the meeting through some contentious issues and I was happy to assist. The proceedings at the meeting focused my attention on what I consider…
By Mike Addison Recently, the question of fidelity cover has arisen on the STO website and others. Here follows more or less what our thinking is in terms of insuring the body corporate I terms of PMR 29(2)(b). In a nutshell, trustees are supposed to see to it that the body corporate has fidelity cover,…
