Conveyancing

Conveyancing Process

Conveyancing is the term used to describe the legal process whereby rights in immovable property are registered at the Deeds Office in the area where the property is situated. Rights in property include ownership, mortgage bonds, mineral rights, servitudes, long leases and others.

A Conveyancer is a practicing attorney who has studied further to specialize in the area of property law, passed the conveyancing examination and admitted to practice by the High Court as a Conveyancer. Not all attorneys are qualified to practice as a Conveyancer. The Conveyancer is responsible for ensuring the conditions of the Purchase and Sale agreement are complied with,  securing the purchase price on behalf of the seller as well as for correctness and accuracy of all the document registered at the Deeds Office.

Steps in the Conveyancing Process

	Sale agreement received by either the seller or his/her appointed estate agent which is perused by the Conveyancer noting suspensive conditions, time limits and any special conditions to the sale which are to be complied with by either the Seller or the purchaser. The Conveyancers duty is to ensure these conditions are complied with before the registration of transfer of the property takes place at the deeds office.
	A deeds search on the property is done to ensure there are no endorsements against the property which would prevent transfer, to ensure the correct property description and also to ensure the sellers details appear on the sale agreement.
	The Conveyancer calls on both the purchaser and seller to forward copies of their identity documents, marriage certificates, income tax numbers and FICA documentation.
	The Conveyancer secures the purchase price by way of either written confirmation of the purchaser's bond grant, deposit by the purchaser which is held in an interest bearing trust account for the benefit of the purchaser or proceeds from the prior sale of the purchaser's property.
	Once all suspensive conditions are fulfilled the Conveyancer calls on the seller’s bond holders to confirm the amount outstanding on the bond and to forward the title deeds of the property to the Conveyancer. The bond holder will instruct attorneys on its panel to collect the guarantees in a sufficient amount to pay the full bond amount and prepare the documentation to cancel the bond simultaneously with the transfer of the property.
	The estate agent or seller arranges for the entomologist and electrical inspections and clearance certificates.
	Transfer documents are prepared by the transferring Conveyancer for the Purchaser and Seller as well as declarations to the Receiver of Revenue for both parties for payment of transfer duty.
	Application is made to the local authority for the amount required by the municipality to obtain rates clearance which would normally include arrear rates, water and electricity due by the seller and rates in advance payable by the purchaser for about 6 months.
	On signature of the transfer documents the Conveyancer will present a pro forma account to the purchaser for payment of registration fees (which are normally in accordance with the law society recommended fee), Deeds Office fees, transfer duty and advance rates.
	If the purchaser is registering a bond to pay part of the purchase price for the property then the bank granting the bond will nominate a Conveyancer on its panel to prepare the standard bond documentation required by the bank. The bond Conveyancer will communicate directly with the transferring Conveyancer for information required to prepare bond documentation. The bond Conveyancer will make independent arrangements with the purchaser for the signing of their documents and will present their own account for the bond registration to the purchaser.
	When all three sets of attorneys are ready (i.e. the transfer Conveyancer, new bond attorneys and cancellation bond attorneys) the transferring Conveyancer will contact the other two attorneys and arrange simultaneous “lodgment” at the Deeds Office. On the pre-arranged date all three simultaneously hand their folders of papers into the Deeds Office.
	These papers are then collated at the Deeds Office and allocated to a Deeds Office Examiner. The examination period usually takes between 7-10 working days after lodgement. Should there be a query on any of the documents by an Examiner the query has to be complied with and the whole set of documents re-lodged once again for full examination.
	On registration the existing bond is cancelled and repaid, the new bond is registered and the purchaser advised of the registration, commission is paid to the estate agent, the costs paid for the entomologist and electrical inspections and certificates and the seller is paid the balance of the purchase price.