UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF APPOINTING THE CORRECT CONVEYANCER
Category Property Advice
What is the Role of a Conveyancer?
A conveyancer is a qualified attorney who has passed a special conveyancing exam and has been officially admitted to the High Court of South Africa as a conveyancer. This allows them to handle all legal work related to property transactions and the Deeds Office.
The exam is extremely difficult-only around 3% of attorneys pass it on their first try. This shows just how complex the laws and processes around buying and selling property really are. That is why it's important to always check that your attorney is also a qualified conveyancer.
Why You Need a Conveyancer
- By law (under the Deeds Registries Act), only conveyancers are allowed to:
- Register a mortgage bond
The conveyancer takes full responsibility to make sure that:
- The legal documents are correct and valid
- The Seller truly owns the property
- Both the Seller and Purchaser are legally allowed to sell and buy
- The entire transaction follows the law correctly
What is a Notary?
A notary is another type of attorney who has passed a different legal exam and is allowed to handle special legal tasks, such as:
- Registering servitudes (rights over another's property)
- Consolidating or subdividing properties
- Registering antenuptial contracts (marriage contracts)
Like conveyancers, notaries must also be admitted to the High Court.
Helping Buyers and Sellers
The conveyancer also makes sure that both the buyer and seller follow the terms of the sale agreement, such as paying the purchase price, signing documents, and meeting all other conditions.
WHO CHOOSES THE CONVEYANCER AND WHO PAYS THE CONVEYANCER
The Seller chooses the conveyancer who will transfer the property unless the Purchaser makes it a condition in the sale agreement to appoint their conveyancer.
The conveyancer works towards the positive goal of transferring the property.
The conveyancer will represent both parties to reach this goal. As a property practitioner the conveyancer must safeguard the rights of both Seller and Purchaser.
The banks have special panels of attorneys who are instructed to register the bonds for the Purchasers on behalf of the bank and to cancel the Sellers existing bonds.
The Purchaser may request the bank to appoint his conveyancer if the conveyancer is on the panel, but the bank has the final say.
The bond conveyancer does not represent the Purchaser but will represent the bank that has granted the mortgage bond.
The Seller can request the bank to appoint his attorney for the cancellation of the bond.
Normally the transferring attorney will request the instructions from the bank for the cancellation of the bond and if the transferring attorney is on the bank's panel, the bank will appoint the transferring attorney to act as the cancellation attorney as well.
In most property transactions there are 3 conveyancers involved- the transferring attorney, the bond attorney, and the cancellation attorney.
Author: OYSTER
