“Death knocks at all doors alike” (John Dunton 1692) Sooner or later we must leave our families to face life without us, and of course these are particularly dangerous times for us all. Make sure that your own affairs are in order now – A valid will is the only sure way to protect your loved ones after you are gone. If you have an old will, check whether it needs updating or changing.Leave a file with all the important information and documents that your estate’s
“Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time we need wages” (Terry Pratchett) The flood of lockdown lay-offs and salary reductions has left many tenants struggling to find rent money, and their landlords wondering how to cover their bond repayments and other expenses. Whether you are a landlord or a tenant (note that we are talking here only about residential leases) you need to be aware of the new Alert Level 1 Regulations applicable to evictions “for the
The sharp upsurge in businesses operating remotely as a result of the pandemic lockdowns means a lot more people working from home – most presumably in low-profile home offices, but inevitably some in the form of full-on business activities from home. What effect is that having on the property market? Work-from-home and what’s hot in property market trends Let’s firstly have a look at what trends are emerging in the “hot property” market, driven by both the work-from-home phenomenon and by the
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be” (Shakespeare) This is a case of a “love relationship” gone wrong but the principles of vehicle ownership apply to any situation in which you lend a motor vehicle to anyone else. A widely-held misconception is that if you are the registered owner of a car, it is yours and you are the owner. Not so, as a recent High Court judgment aptly illustrates – The registered owner unable to reclaim “her” car In what must at the
(Note: If none of this applies to you please think of passing it on to anyone you know who may find it useful) In these hard times it is not always easy to keep up bond repayments, particularly if you are one of the many victims of the lockdown that have lost your job or your business. The worst thing you can do is ignore the problem – that is a recipe for the bank taking legal action against you and ultimately
“… in certain circumstances the principal may be liable to pay commission to both agents where it is impossible to distinguish between the efforts of one agent and another in terms of causality or degrees of causation.” (Extract from judgment below) With many property sellers allowing multiple estate agencies to market their properties in their attempts to sell during what is still (for the moment at least) a buyer’s market, now is perhaps a good time to remind both sellers and
“O Wonder! …O Brave New World” (Shakespeare) Regrettably the pandemic still shows no sign of going away any time soon, and the social distancing it has brought to our “new normal” leaves companies with a dilemma. How can you comply – safely and lawfully – with the Companies Act’s stringent requirements for the holding of Annual General Meetings and (where needed) interim General Meetings? The good news is that our South African legislation has for many years allowed the holding of company
“The purpose of the legislature in enacting s 34(1) is to protect creditors by preventing traders who are in financial difficulty from disposing of their business assets to third parties who are not liable for the debts of the business, without due advertisement to all the creditors of the business.” (Extract from judgement below) With our economy in trouble and the ongoing pandemic and lockdown damaging more and more businesses by the day, sales by distressed companies and traders are likely
“It is only where the enforcement of a contractual term would be so unfair, unreasonable or unjust so as to be contrary to public policy that a court may refuse to enforce it” (extract from first judgment below) Leases often give tenants an option to extend or renew at the end of the current term, and tenants who lose sight of the value and importance of such an option are flirting with disaster. Tenants In a nutshell, when the time comes to exercise
Fraudulent SIM swaps were involved in around 13,300 reported digital banking fraud incidents across online and mobile banking and banking apps in 2019 (up 16% from 2018) and all indications is that the lockdown will see another spike in incidents. Read “What to do if you are a victim of SIM-swap fraud” on My Broadband for advice on the dangers, how to protect yourself from becoming a victim, how to tell if you are under attack, and what to do about it
