SHEPPERSON'S FIRST LAW

Is it just me or do other people also find this utterly reprehensible . There are pensioners who find themselves in absolutely dire circumstances as a direct result of the actions of the Directors of Sharemax. They are desperately seeking some way of reclaiming their "lost" funds and logically approach the Fais Ombud, who is the relevant person appointed to investigate such investment related issues. These same directors of Sharemax who caused the problem have been appointed by the Court to resolve the problem through their new company, Nova Group (... how the heck did that happen???).  Talk about the fox guarding the hen-house! Now these "foxes" have the absolute audacity to threaten any investor who turns to the relevant authority for help.  UTTERLY REPREHENSIBLE! ...... and by the way, how is it possible that none of the plethora of Regulatory Authorities in the finance sector in SA have seen fit to act in any meaningful way pursuant to the Ombud

Time to comment on new Tshwane town planning scheme The public has two months to comment on the new Draft Tshwane Planning Scheme. The City of Tshwane approved a Draft Tshwane Town-planning Scheme, 2008 (revised this year) for the entire municipal area at its council meeting and now the public can have its say. The scheme is open to inspection during normal office hours at the office of the strategic executive director: city planning and development, room LG004, Isivuno Building, 143 Lillian Ngoyi Street, Pretoria, from 8am to 3pm Monday to Friday, from October 2 until November 30.

Home ownership declines as household debt climbs Home rentals have performed strongly with 25 percent of households now opting to rent despite South Africans still favouring home ownership. The highest proportion of citizens who have opted to rent reside in Gauteng, with 37 percent living in rented accommodation, according to the latest Standard Bank residential property report.

Newcastle Mall scoops SA's top centre award The Newcastle Mall took top honours at the SA Council of Shopping Centres annual Retail Design and Development Awards at the council's 17th annual congress in Sandton this week, scooping the award for the best new shopping centre development in South Africa as well as the overall Spectrum Award. The Newcastle Mall . Developed at a cost of R400 million by Zenprop Property Holdings and Durban businessman Vivian Reddy, the Newcastle Mall beat the Nicol Square shopping centre in Bryanston to the top award.

Consumer Protection Act "doesn't apply to single property transaction" One of the questions most frequently put to conveyancing attorneys these days is: how valid is the voetstoots clause in property now that the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) has been promulgated? 'The first point to be grasped,' says Denver Vraagom of Gunston Attorneys, 'is that the Consumer Protection Act does not apply where sellers are involved in one-off selling. That is, (when) property dealing is not their regular occupation.

Property seller in breach may be liable for commission A seller can be held liable for the estate agent's commission if the sale falls through because he or she failed to meet the conditions in the offer to purchase or because the seller cancelled the sale. A Cape Town-based estate agent, who asked not to be named, tells of a seller who reneged on an agreement and could have been held liable to pay commission for being in breach.

Hi Please see the latest article that we published in Asset Magazine . The article is entitled: "A goal without a plan is just a Wish" . The article is about the Spacial Planning and Land Use Management Act of 2013 that was signed into law by President Zuma on the 5th of August 2013. You can view the article by clicking HERE (Our article can be found on pages 38 to 41.) You can also still view our article on the Right to Light in the previous issue by clicking HERE and looking at pages 32 to 33. You can also see our Profile in the Property Review published by SAPOA .  You can click HERE to see the magazine or obtain it from the SAPOA Website.  (We are on Page 56.) Gareth Shepperson

Deposit should be out of reach in a property dispute' When the buyer and the seller in a property transaction are in dispute over an alleged breach of the terms of an offer to purchase, the seller's conveyancer cannot 'unilaterally' claim the buyer's deposit as commission or damages, or in lieu of damages, James Phillipson, a conveyancing attorney and director at law firm STBB Smith Tabata Buchanan Boyes, says. The forfeiture of deposits is very controversial, because some conveyancers unilaterally enforce clauses that provide for this, Phillipson says. 'The problem is that, in most cases, there's a dispute between the parties, and the conveyancer cannot act as the arbiter in the matter.' So, it must first be determined if the clause was breached and who was in breach before the forfeiture clause can apply.

'What you need to know about Capital Gains Tax' While Capital Gains Tax (CGT) won't pertain to every property transaction, it is vital that those looking to sell their property understand the implications that it may have on their property sale transactions, says Adrian Goslett, CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa. 'Capital Gains Tax forms part of a continuing reform programme that was introduced in South Africa in October 2001. Essentially it is the tax that is payable by a seller on any profit made from the sale of a fixed property or any capital sale of assets globally. While CGT applies to all individual South Africa resident taxpayers as well as companies, close corporations and trusts, foreign investors are not exempt. Any non-South African resident taxpayer who sells an immovable property in South Africa will be liable to pay the applicable CGT on that transaction,' says Goslett.

Directors refuse access to shareholder registers of Sharemax-linked companies. A director of Nova Property Group has accused this Moneyweb journalist of terrorism and extortion. This came after Moneyweb reminded them that the failure to allow access to a company’s securities register may constitute a criminal offence. Moneyweb has applied to inspect the shareholder registers of three entities: Nova Property Group, Frontier Asset Management and Centro Property Group. Nova is the company that owns all the properties that used to belong to investors in the various Sharemax-promoted property syndication schemes. When the Sharemax investors voted in favour of a rescue scheme, they become either shareholders in the Nova Group or debenture holders in a Nova subsidiary

Please also keep a look out for our Article on the Spacial Land Use Management Act (previously referred to as SPLUMB) in the September Issue of Asset Magazine.  Also see our article on the Right to Light that appeared in the June Issue (  http://www.assetmag.co.za/issue12/files/2.html ) Gareth Shepperson Ruling breaks new ground on property approvals A damning judgment delivered by the Supreme Court of Appeal last week could see thousands of homes and offices in South Africa demolished and property developers facing criminal charges.