The Municipal Council
Dealing with the local municipality is always infamously riddled with bureaucratic hurdles, hoops and challenges. In order to minimize the delay from this institution during the transfer process, certain firms have appointed internal office members to attend to the council on a daily basis in order to resolve issues when obtaining rates clearance figures, whilst other firms make use of rates consultants. These extra measures have become a necessity due to the various challenges that Transferring Attorneys are experiencing when attempting to obtain rates clearance certificates. The costs involved for these are usually for the seller’s account as the seller is the party responsible for obtaining rates figures and effecting payment of the rates amount, four months in advance.
Whenever a property is sold, the municipality needs to confirm that all the rates have been paid in full.
In order for a Transferring Attorney to apply for rates figures, they require the identity document of the seller and purchaser and a copy of the latest rates and taxes account from the seller. It is prudent for the estate/property agent to obtain these documents from the seller and purchaser when the offer to purchase is signed by the parties, and hand them over the Transferring Attorney, in order to speed up the process for applying for rates. The estate agent should also obtain the bond account number from the seller for the Transferring Attorney to request cancellation figures on the bond (in the event where the house is bonded).
There are various issues that may cause a delay in receiving figures such as, a lack of reading meters, broken and unrepaired meters, or the absence of current readings from not being uploaded onto the council system and are only done during a 2 – 3 day period every month, after the 22nd.
The municipal council is vitally important in the transfer process, as the Transferring Attorney requires a rates clearance certificate from the Council to confirm that rates and taxes and water readings are fully paid. Without this certificate, the various transfer documents cannot be lodged in the deeds office. Next week we will look at some other role players in order to enlighten our valued clients, and estate/property agents, on other obstacles that could appear in a transfer.
