Legal and Property Advice from the Professionals
A resident of a sectional title complex has approached the Property Poser panel with some concerns about the actions of the trustees. The reader explains that there are ten units in his complex and that three trustees were elected at the last annual general meeting. He asks whether a person who is not a unit owner may be elected as trustee and whether the trustees may, without the owners' … [Read more...]
This week a reader asks the Property Poser experts whether a managing agent is allowed to lead the body corporate of a sectional title complex and give advice. In addition, as a trustee of the complex in which he resides, he is concerned about a situation in which one or two of his fellow trustees are trying to take control. According to Schalk van der Merwe from Rawson Properties … [Read more...]
What role the chairperson of a body corporate plays and the nature of his or her responsibilities are the subject of this week's column. Our experts have been approached by a reader who recently purchased a sectional title unit and was subsequently elected as trustee at the annual general meeting. The group of trustees is quite small, numbering just four members including the chairperson. … [Read more...]
A reader who lives in a sectional title complex with a managing agent has approached our panel with two procedural questions. He would firstly like to know how many days before the annual general meeting the agenda and financial statements should be distributed and, secondly, the correct procedure for removing a trustee. The management rules contained in Annexure Eight to the Sectional … [Read more...]
This week our panel examines the familiar topic of sectional title complexes – specifically where the unit owner's responsibility stops and the duties of the trustees and body corporate begin. A reader sets out a scenario in which she was asked by the body corporate to have a gate fitted in her boundary wall to allow the gardening service access to the back garden, which is allocated to her … [Read more...]
Our experts have been called on once again to deal with mismanagement problems in a sectional title complex. One of our readers is a trustee for the complex in which he lives. He complains that he is always outvoted on matters he feels are important and in line with his vision for the complex. He claims that the complex is not being properly maintained and that the gardens are not being kept … [Read more...]
This week, a reader asks our panel of experts to clarify his position as a body corporate trustee for the complex in which he lives. Having held the position of trustee for a year, the reader applied for the post of general maintenance manager for the complex. He was interviewed and subsequently appointed. The reader was prepared to resign as trustee but was informed that he could fulfill … [Read more...]
A reader, whose permission to own a pet in a sectional title complex has been overturned, has approached our panel of experts. He writes that he moved into the complex three years ago with permission from the developers to bring along pets. At the first meeting of the body corporate, permission was granted to tenants in general to keep pets within the complex, provided they remained in a … [Read more...]
The question posed to our panel this week revolves around the issue of the liability to maintain the various areas that a sectional title complex consist of. Our reader states that he understands the maintenance in respect of the outside area of the complex to be the responsibility of the body corporate. He specifically raises the issue of ants infesting the paving in respect of the patio … [Read more...]
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