Victims fall prey to bogus property sale
A Khayelitsha couple has become the latest victim of an apparent property scam operating in Cape Town townships after unwittingly losing R85000 last month.
The couple took a bank loan, another loan from the wife’s employer and their savings to come up with the funds that would help them purchase a home of their own. Only now they have to repay the debt and are still without a house.
Speaking to Weekend Argus on condition of anonymity, the woman said she and her husband had been looking for a house to buy for a while when she saw an advert for a R150000 house in the township on Gumtree.
After arranging to view, the couple were taken to a house in Nanana Street, in the F Section of the township. “We viewed the house and we decided to buy it,” she said.
The person organising the viewing introduced himself as Lusanda, the son of Thobeka Madyosi who owns the house. Lusanda then referred them to his attorney, Bongani Dyani whom they met at a coffee shop near the Western Cape High Court where they signed a deed of sale, the woman said.
Weekend Argus contacted Dyani who has offices in Delft and Johannesburg and he denied meeting the couple. He said he was out of town when the transaction happened.
Dyani said this was the second time a person claimed to have met with him about a property sale when he was not involved. He was aware of the scam and had advised those affected to report it to the police, he said.
He produced his travel itinerary which showed he returned to Cape Town the day after the couple transferred R85000 into an account they believed to have been the seller’s.
Dyani said he advised anyone buying property directly from an owner to transfer the purchase price into an attorney’s trust account until the property was transferred into their own name.
ADVICE TO AVOID BEING SCAMMED:
All the people affected in the property scam uncovered in Weekend Argus thus far would have been first-time buyers and were not clear about the process to follow when buying a house in cash or through a home loan.
The buyers responded to a Gumtree advert and were made to believe they were getting involved in a legitimate property transaction. Setoaba advises not to be too trusting and quick to transfer money without due diligence when buying property.
Here are some pointers to assist property buyers:
Ask the seller to provide you with a property condition report. This is a declaration of any known material defects to the building or its accessories. The report should not be regarded as a substitute for any inspections or warranties.
Get everything in writing.
Hire a home inspector to do an inside and outside inspection of the property, before concluding an agreement of sale.
Get proof of ownership. If the property is owned by more than one person, you need to have confirmation that all owners give consent for the sale of the property and sign the agreement of sale or offer to purchase.
Ensure your offer to purchase is made on a valid deed of sale agreement.
A conveyancing attorney can assist you in completing the sale agreement to make sure it is legal and binding. It is common practice that attorneys will not charge a fee for preparing a sale agreement if they are instructed to attend to the transfer.
Get a reputable conveyancing attorney to facilitate the transfer process.
Change in ownership for a property is done only at the Deeds Office (not when you make payment).
Each time a property is sold, a new title deed is issued in the name of the new owner, and attorneys assist with this, and other duties as part of the conveyancing process.
Do not pay any funds directly to a seller. Only pay this into the trust account of the attorney handling the transfer of the property.
Remember, you have the option of requesting that the deposit you pay be invested in an interest-bearing account at a bank.Information by Jacqui Setoaba - real estate marketing specialist at Keller Williams Extreme.