It's your duty to complete the disclosure form

After just about a year in operation, the Property Practitioners Act 22 of 2019 ("the Act") has been effective in tightening up the protection provided to parties in property deals, specifically buyers, lessees/tenants and of course the Property Practitioner.

The Act places an obligation on all Property Practitioners to ensure that sellers and lessors complete a mandatory disclosure form, which I'm sure we have all become familiar with over the past year.

We strongly suggest that Practitioners clearly communicate to sellers and lessors that they should not try to cover or conceal defects as this can land a seller in hot water and at risk of being sued by the purchaser.

However, should a seller fail to disclose a fault that they were entirely unaware of, it is unlikely to pose a problem for the seller if he or she did not declare it. It is recommended, nonetheless, that all sellers and lessors conduct an inspection of the premises with a professional as an attempt to rule out any "missed" defects.

There are generally two types of defects, namely:

1.     Patent defects are defects which are visible to the naked eye. These would include, but are note limited to, inter alia, cracks in wall, sagging gutters, cracked or broken windows, damaged light switches, cracks around the swimming pool, deteriorated woodwork, damaged cupboards, cracking paintwork, cracked tiles, damage to carpets and/or laminate or wooden flooring.; and

2.     Latent defects which usually relate to structural issues and are more difficult to spot. These would include, but are not limited to, inter alia, unsteady walls, leaking roofs, faulty geysers and swimming pool pumps, rising damp and so on.

The property practitioner must undertake a thorough inspection and the seller must point out all defects, regardless of whether they are patent or latent.

Property practitioners, if you haven't yet, become familiar with the prescribed disclosure form and ensure it is correctly completed prior to accepting any mandates!

"Honesty saves everyone's time"