The Bridging Factory

Every time a property is bought or sold in South Africa, conveyance attorneys will be involved. In short, conveyancing is the legal procedure whereby ownership of a particular property is changed from that of the existing owner to the new buyer.

The actions of conveyance attorneys are dictated by the contents of the respective purchase agreement between the property seller and the property buyer as recorded in the Deed of Sale. Upon receipt of the Deed of Sale, the conveyance attorney will conduct a `Deeds Office Search`.

The purpose of this search is to reveal the details of the current registered owner, any interdicts recorded against the property in question, the complete Deeds Office description of the property being sold, and any bonds held on the property.

In addition, the conveyance attorney will send a letter to the current bondholder advising that their property has been sold, and request that they forward the Title Deed to them, as well as disclose the outstanding bond amount on registration of transfer.

The bondholder is also requested to instruct their own attorney to prepare a Consent to Cancellation of the existing bond, which must be signed by them and returned to their attorney to be lodged with the Deeds Office.

The conveyance attorney should then receive a response to the above letter sent to the existing bondholder, which should contain the Title Deed and the other required information. They will then send a letter to the attorneys representing the existing bondholder and promise payment of the property purchase amount.

Upon receipt of the Deeds Office particulars and subject to all conditions being met, the conveyance attorney will prepare `preliminary documentation` which comprises a Power of Attorney in terms of which the seller authorizes the conveyancing attorney to act on his behalf.

The documentation will also include declarations by the property seller and purchaser to the Receiver of Revenue, as the transfer duty is payable to the Receiver. Finally, affidavits must also be included signed by both the property seller and purchaser confirming their correct names, ID numbers, marital status and solvency.

Once these documents have been prepared the conveyance attorney will contact the seller and purchaser to arrange for them to each sign the documents, at which point the attorney will ask the purchaser to settle the transfer costs.

These costs will include the conveyance attorneys fee plus Vat, the transfer duty, the Deeds office Fee and the cost of the Valuation Certificate, which must be settled by the property purchaser at least one month before scheduled date of transfer.

Once all documentation has been signed, all fees have been paid and the Deeds Office has received all the necessary documentation, the Deeds Office examiner will inspect all the documents to ensure they are in order and if so approve them for registration. Once registered, ownership of the property officially passes from the seller to the purchaser and the transaction is complete.

Assuming that the above process goes smoothly and that all documentation and payments are prepared and made timeously, the entire transaction should take between six and eight weeks in total.