The failure of estate agents, when drawing up a deed of sale in which there are suspensive conditions, to include a date by which these must be fulfilled had repercussions in a recent High Court case (Reddy v Govender), notes Lanice Steward, MD of the Cape Town agency Anne Porter Knight Frank, in a report on the Realestateweb site. The case came about because the agent cancelled the agreement with the buyer, who had not obtained a bond after a month, even though there was no date stipulated for the raising of a bond in the agreement. The argument, therefore, says Steward, hinged on whether the four or five weeks that had lapsed was reasonable or sufficient time to raise such a bond. In its decision the court referred to several cases, including one in 1979 in which the judged had ruled that ‘this type of operation’ can be time-consuming and that the appellant had not proved that the defendant had had enough time. Much the same argument, the court ruled, could be put forward in this case.
Full report on the Realestateweb site