Ruth bought a flat through an estate agent and a lawyer. She went to see the flat before purchasing it, and it was intact. Once the flat was registered in her name and she received the legal documents from the lawyer, she collected the keys from the agency. This time, when she entered the flat, she found that the front door handle had been removed and the back door was open and broken. She also discovered that all the plugs had been removed. In addition to this, the agency didn’t give Ruth all the keys to the flat – she had no key for the back sliding door.
Ruth asked the agency what happened. They told her that the person who gave them the electrical certificate took the keys to perform the inspection and returned them. They were not aware that the keys were not complete nor that the plugs had been removed.
Ruth requested an inspection report from them, but they’ve been ignoring her. All they did was refer her to a lawyer, who gave her the details of the man who issued the electrical certificate.
Ruth has still not moved in to the flat, as there is no electricity. She has been paying from December 2017 for a flat she cannot use. Neither the lawyer nor the estate agent is responding to her emails or calls. What now? Can she take legal action against them?
Scorpion Legal Protection’s advice
Our specialist property department weighed in on Ruth’s case.
Ruth needs to find out how the property was transferred to her, because in terms of the law, she is required to be in possession of the original electrical certificate of compliance (ECOC). It’s possible that the ECOC is not legal and valid, or that a fraudulent one was used for the sake of transferring the property into her name.
She can report the estate agents to the Estate Agency Affairs Board (their website is www.eeab.org.za). In terms of the Consumer Protection Act, Ruth has not been able to enjoy the property for the purpose for which she bought it for since December 2017 due to the defects. She has a right to demand that the agency repair the property and claim for any damages she may have suffered, as she is not the one who hired the person to do the electrical inspection for the compliance certificate.
Tips:
- In terms of the law, no property may be transferred without a valid electrical certificate of compliance (ECOC) for the electrical installation.
- The ECOC must be issued by a registered person with the necessary accreditation and is only valid for two years.
- The Deed of Sale contract usually makes the seller responsible for supplying an ECOC, together with a pest-free certificate and a gas compliance certificate (if there is gas installed) prior to transfer, at their expense.
- To protect yourself as a homebuyer, it’s a good idea to include that you require a “verified” ECOC from the seller prior to transfer. This means that the local provincial electrical inspection authority will be asked to audit the ECOC. This involves a re-check of the entire installation.
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* Terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions apply (click here to view the Legal Membership Agreement). This is only basic advice and cannot be relied on solely. Names have been changed to protect identity.