HOW LOCKED DOWN IS THE PROPERTY TRANSFER PROCESS REALLY? What CAN and CANNOT be done during lock down, from a Conveyancing perspective.

I am so grateful to form part of such an exceptional brand that supports the safety of our Nation and its' people during this strange and uncertain time for us all.

Whilst we remain fully connected and available to all our clients whilst working remotely per the President's order and just for now, note that lock down does not mean shut down.

The following attendances in the conveyancing / property transfer process can still proceed while we are working from home:-

Deeds Records & Title Deeds: Once a new transfer instruction is received, we are able to immediately proceed with the necessary Deeds Office record searches and electronic requests for copies of title deed/s. These electronic systems are still running smoothly and without any unusual delay.

Rates Clearance & the Municipality: Cape Town City Council is operating per their normal procedures and within normal time-lines and we can continue to apply for rates clearance figures in respect of transactions within the jurisdiction of the Cape Town Municipality. Although we can receive payments into our trust account and clients can therefore make payment to us in the interim, no outgoing payments can be made during lock down and these will therefore be prioritised for immediate payment as soon as our offices have re-opened. Clients may opt to make payment to the Municipality directly however must use their unique application reference number when doing so in order to avoid double-payment. City Council has communicated that rates clearance certificates already paid for will be released after lock down so as to ensure its validity upon the reopening of the Cape Town Deeds Registry.

Levy Clearance: Sectional Title- and Home Owners Association levy clearance figures as well as Home Owners Association Consents to the transfer can be requested from Managing Agents at this time, although the issuing thereof will depend on each individual Agent and whether their offices are open for business during the lock down period.

Suspensive Conditions, New Bonds & Bond Cancellations: The Banks are following different measures of restriction during the, now extended national lock down in respect of the submission of new bond applications, pending bond grants and the issuing of settlement figures/ guarantee requirements for the cancellation of existing bonds.

New Bond Applications:

* Where ABSA Bank is not currently accepting any new Mortgage Finance Applications, remaining Banks are proceeding as follows:-

* Nedbank is currently prioritising re-advances to existing clients, although they have small regional teams working remotely for the processing of new loan applications. Nedbank is not currently issuing new instructions to Panel Attorneys.

* Standard Bank, FNB and Investec are all proceeding with business as usual and their consultants are working remotely - considerable delays should be expected. New bond registration instructions will continue to be issued to Panel Attorneys.

Pending Bond Instructions:

* Although Nedbank has indicated that it will not be instructing their Panel Attorneys in respect of pending bond applications for now, the remaining Banks have indicated otherwise.

* Bond documents that have already been signed may be uploaded to the Banks’ compliance departments for final assessment, however we do not yet know whether the Banks will be issuing proceed instructions for lodgement, during the lock down period.

* We expect to experience delays in all matters relating to the Banks currently.

Bond Cancellations:

* ABSA Bank and Nedbank have advised that they will not be accepting any new instructions for bond cancellations for now.

* Standard Bank, FNB & Invested, RMB & FRB bond cancellation consultants are working remotely and still placing existing bonds under cancellation. We are however warned that significant delays must be expected in the issuing of settlement figures due to high volumes of instructions and reduced capacity currently.

* For these Banks, we are therefore still able to place Sellers existing bonds under cancellation electronically.

Signature of Transfer and Bond Documentation: Provided that we have what we need, bond documents can be prepared for signature by Purchasers during the lock down period. Bare in mind that certain requirements and documents must be in place, for example all FICA documentation must be provided by both parties, the Seller’s settlement figure for his/her existing bond must be issued by the Sellers Bank (if any - to the Transfer Attorney) and a copy of the title deed to the property received before all transfer and bond documents can be finalised for signature.

The Service Level Agreements with each respective Bank and their Panel Attorneys prohibits the sending of bond documentation to any client or person per email and requires in-person signature with one of our Conveyancers. New bond documentation not yet signed will therefore be prioritised and signed upon the upliftment of the lock down.

Transfer documentation may be sent to both Sellers and Purchasers per email for signature, although the originals will be required before lodgement and may simply be delivered to our offices once re-opened.

Transfer Duty Clearance: SARS systems are still fully operational however under skeleton staff and provided that all requirements for this are in place, we may still proceed with E-filing applications for transfer duty assessments during lock down. As we cannot make any outgoing payments from trust during the lock down period, payments of transfer duty to SARS will re-commence upon the re-opening of our offices.

Payment of Transfer and Bond Costs: Please note that we are still able to receive payments from clients and will immediately allocate and receipt incoming funds as received. We urge all our clients to read carefully however and make use of their unique reference number allocated to their specific deal in order for incoming funds to be properly and swiftly allocated to their transaction.

Compliance Certificates: Sellers may proceed to instruct contractors in order to plan for, and make the necessary arrangements for property inspections and/or repairs, although same will depend on each individual contractor and whether their offices are open for business during the lock down period. Of course, the physical inspections and/or repairs may only be attended to at the premises’ once the lock down has ended and we are once again allowed to leave our homes.

Lodgement & Registration: All Deeds Registries across the country will be closed during the lock down and until further notice. At this time, we are cautiously optimistic that normal life will resume as scheduled on 1 May 2020 and are preparing for our offices to re-open and all transactions to resume accordingly, unless and until directed otherwise by our Government before then.

It is important to note that the abovementioned conveyancing attendances form but the basic framework of the transfer process and that circumstances and due dates surrounding individual transactions and their requirements do vary intensely.

Additional attendances may therefore be required depending on the circumstances of each transaction and the above framework should be considered as a guideline to assist in your business ventures during this strange and uncertain time for us all.

For any queries, contact me directly at [email protected]