Maryna holds the BA, LLB, LLM degrees and is a Director at the Cape Town branch of STBB. She is an admitted Attorney, Notary Public, Conveyancer and Insolvency Practitioner with many years of experience in the fields of property law, conveyancing and the laws relating to corporate compliance (especially in respect of the FICA and POPIA laws). Up until 2018 she was also head of the firm’s national marketing portfolio. She is a seasoned public speaker and presenter, both in person and online. She prepares text for the majority of STBB’s internal and external publications and is editor and co-writer for two pivotal publications in the South African real estate industry – the ABC of Conveyancing (JUTA) and Delport’s South African Property Law and Practice (JUTA).

Property Practitioners Act | Instalment 6

When you are not entitled to receive commission

In case you missed our previous instalments.
Instalment #1
Instalment #2
Instalment #3
Instalment #4
Instalment #5

This is #6 in our short series of instalments on all the new things to bear in mind with the coming into operation of the Property Practitioners Act on 1 February 2022.

No payment, no commission

Take note of the following strict provisions:

  1. In order to commit estate agents (and other property practitioners) to comply with the provisions of the Act and to ensure that consumers are protected, the Act states that you are not entitled to commission (or any payment) if you do not have a Fidelity Fund certificate at the time of performing your services as estate agent.Non-compliance results in an obligation to pay whatever money you may have received, to the Authority. The person who is entitled to the money (usually the seller who entrusted you with a mandate to sell) must then claim the funds back from the Authority, within three years.

    Any such funds not claimed back (by a seller or other person entitled thereto) within the three year period, will be forfeited to the Authority.

  2. In addition, conveyancers are prohibited from paying any remuneration to estate agents when a transaction registers in the Deeds Office, unless they have been provided with a valid Fidelity Fund certificate from both the agent who was involved in the transaction and the agency. The certificates must be valid:
    1. at the time that the transaction was concluded, and
    2. on the date of the payment by the conveyancer.

For more information, contact us at info@stbb.co.za

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