We had 21 working days in the month of June and the Deeds Office was closed for 10 of those days. This has obviously created a massive backlog of deeds that need to be processed. The situation is made worse by the ongoing wave of infections in Gauteng and we expect more closures in the month of July. The Pretoria and Johannesburg Attorneys Associations have been in constant contact with the Deeds Office to try and find a workable solution to clear the backlog as well as keeping the Deeds Office open. Certain concessions have been made by the Deeds office and hopefully this allows some of the backlog to be cleared this month.
As mentioned previously, we urge all our clients to take the above information into consideration before making plans to move in and out of properties. We are managing the situation as best we can and are, amongst other things, applying for amended clearance certificates so as to allow for the lengthy period of time between lodgment and registration. Unfortunately the many closures of the Deeds Office not only impact our sellers and buyers but it also has a negative impact on our real estate clients who rely on commission payments for their livelihoods.
We will continue to keep you posted on further developments.
