Stonewood Property Management

27 Jan How the Property Practitioners Act will impact sectional title schemes

Posted at 09:06h in Property

On 1 February 2022 the new Property Practitioners Act will commence. While this new consumer-driven Act aims to provide protection for consumers when purchasing, leasing, financing, renting or property, the requirements will be quite taxing for property practitioners. Below are a few changes of importance that the new law will bring to the industry. Property practitioners & Fidelity Fund Certificates The definition of...

19 Jan How the legislation and governing rules vary from HOAs to sectional title schemes

Posted at 12:08h in Property

The fundamentals of sectional title schemes and home owners’ associations (HOA) are very similar. Both are community schemes with shared use of common property where owners pay a levy to the scheme as a contribution for common property expenses. There are differences between the two types of community schemes that are important to understand. Legislation The legislative laws that apply to sectional title...

21 Dec What planning does a sectional title scheme require prior to the end-of-year break?

Posted at 11:43h in Property

Bodies corporate need to pay continuous attention to its maintenance and financial responsibilities but around mid-December each year some may need a break from the daily management activities of the scheme. Taking a break should not be a problem if trustees and managing agents plan ahead. There are three key elements that should be considered and planned for, these are finance,...

10 Dec 5 Things you must know about voting at sectional title AGMs

Posted at 16:46h in Property

The introduction of the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act (STSMA) in 2016 changed the way we vote at annual general meetings (AGMs). Prior to this date, voting was mostly used to elect trustees as other agenda items were simply determined by a show of hands on the basis of a majority vote. In some ways the changes in the new Act...

29 Nov Where there’s smoke, there’s fire: Smoking and braaing in sectional title schemes

Posted at 09:47h in Uncategorized

A common dispute in sectional title has to do with smoke emanating from either a braai fire or someone smoking a cigarette. Many sectional title residents seem to think that smoke is something that one must tolerate in a community scheme environment. Let’s look at what the Act and conduct rules say about second-hand smoke entering a neighbour’s private space...