Asked by Rooi on 24-08-2021 16:25:13
Question posted in the Property Law category relating to Eastern Cape

hello HI ok so i bought a house the house was register by the deeds office by the attorney thats doing the transfer (sale went through without any hiccups) the house is in my name the attorney gave me a paper to take to municipality with my ID to open new account so rates/water is in my name i havent gone yet to put rates/water/electricity in my name at municipality yet its almost going for a month since i received the paper from attorney the previous owner had a tenant who rented the place that doesnt want to move out the attorney that handled the transfer is also the one doing eviction process (pie) to get the tenant out the tenant was informed february when the HOUSE went on sale on house market that the tenant must start looking for alternative accommodation 28 july 2021 the house was registered on my name the process took about 3 months THERE WAS NO LEASE AGREEMENT BETWEEN OWNER AND TENANT THERE WAS NO LEASE AGREEMENT IN SALES AGREEMENT so here is the SUMMARY >>> THE OWNER IS NOT THE PROBLEM THE TENANT IS THE PROBLEM (DONT WANT TO MOVE OUT) I WANT TO KNOW WHAT MY OPTIONS ARE, SHOULD I GO AHEAD AND MAKE A NEW ACCOUNT AT THE MUNICIPALITY TO GET WATER/RATES/ELECTRICITY IN MY NAME APPARENTLY ONCE I OPEN RATES/WATER/ELECTRICITY ACCOUNT IN MY NAME I CAN SWITCH THE POWER OFF,OF THE PROPERTY (SINCE ITS NOT MY TENANT AND I DIDNT HAVE ANY SORT OF AGREEMENT WITH SAID TENANT i am afraid the tenant might be wasting water deliberately and i dont want to pay excessive water bills once everything is handle (tenant evicted) PLUS Its COVID its hard to evict on high level so can you tell me the correct way of handle the situation with minimum $$MONEY$$ loss thank you in advance

Posted by Att. Patrick on 25-08-2021 09:48:03

Hi there,

I see that you haven't made a payment for the question, but I'm going to assist you a little. If you want to ask a follow-up question, please make the required payment, even if it is R150 or R200.

You can't switch the power off unfortunately as this would be taking the law into your own hands. 

What you need to do is to continue with the PIE application.

Unfortunately, while she might not be your tenant, she is your illegal occupier that you need to deal with. 

Depending on the wording of the sale agreement, you could hold the seller liable for your rental costs, and the legal costs, because the seller didn't give you vacant occupation of the property on transfer!  The seller should have dealt with her tenant; but didn't; and left the tenant there for you to deal with. 

Att. Patrick 

Please remember this is a dialog if you have follow-up questions please make the required deposit, then use the REPLY button and ask your further question. I would like to continue assisting you, but I need to concentrate on people who make deposits for their questions - they get serviced first!