Something I read earlier:
Forms at centre of dispute over property sale
Using a standard form bought from a stationer has proved to be a costly mistake for the buyers and sellers in a property deal because after expensive litigation a Durban High Court judge has ruled determining if the deal was legitimate could only be unravelled at another trial.
'These standard forms are dangerous instruments in the hands of lay persons, unschooled in the technicalities prescribed by law for contracts required to be in writing,' Judge Rashid Vahed said in his judgment in the matter of Bongani and Thabile Mazibuko versus Doman and Sampooram Rampersadh. The Mazibukos obtained an interim order against the Rampersadhs last October, preventing them from transferring the property - a house in Avoca Hills - to anyone else after the Rampersadhs purported to cancel the sale agreement.
Judge Vahed said the owners had put up a 'for sale' sign outside their home which had attracted the Mazibukos and negotiations began, involving neither estate agents or lawyers, during which the Mazibukos bought two identical printed documents headed 'Offer to Purchase which constitutes a Deed of Sale when accepted'.
The documents, he said, set out terms and conditions commonly applicable to property deals, with blank spaces for the insertion of details such as price and dates. At a meeting between the two parties last July, the forms were partially completed, indicating a price of R650 000 and each party left the meeting with one copy.
But the documents submitted to the court were different, written in different scripts, with signatures in different places reflecting different agreements on the deposit.
The Rampersadhs claimed they never agreed to certain additions and alterations on the Mazibuko document. The buyers had not paid the deposit into their bank account and that, contrary to the agreement, they chose the conveyancer.
Doman Rampersadh said he told Bongani Mazibuko he was cancelling the agreement and sent him an SMS that it was 'null and void'.
Judge Vahed said the answer lay in unpacking in detail what transpired when the parties met and precisely what form the document took during the stages of its construction. He reserved costs.
Pretoria News
Posted at 08:47AM Jun 11, 2014 by Editor in Market |
http://www.iolproperty.co.za/roller/news/entry/forms_at_centre_of_dispute