- Once the transfer of ownership has been registered into the name of the Purchaser, both the Seller and the Purchaser need to attend the City Council in order to close and open their Municipality Accounts respectively. The Seller and the Purchaser do not have to attend the Council together but it is important to note that the Purchaser has to open an account first.
- Kindly be aware that Sectional Title accounts and accounts for freestanding properties are the same. The only difference is that a rates account for Sectional Title units does not include water and electricity but simply refuse and waste disposal. For Sectional Title Units, water and electricity is always billed on the Body Corporate’s Levy Statement. Rates accounts for free-standing properties include inter alia water, electricity, waste disposal and Municipal taxes.
- Here is a simplified summary of what occurs at the Municipality once the property sold is registered into the name of the Purchaser and what is required to be done by both the Seller and the Purchaser.
WHAT TO DO AS THE PURCHASER
- Once the property is registered at the Deeds Office into the name of the Purchaser, the transferring attorneys send a letter to the Municipality stating that registration has occurred.
- Within 10 (ten) weeks of registration of the property into the name of the Purchaser, the Deeds Office sends the information via direct link to the Municipality so that they may update their systems.
- This is where the problem arises as more often than not this is not done by the Municipality. Therefore, the Seller needs to close his/her rates account and the Purchaser is required to open a new rates account with the Municipality.
- Importantly, the Seller will be unable to close his/her rates account if the purchaser has not opened his/her own rates account. This is to protect the Municipality so that there is always an account linked to a property.
- Therefore, the Purchaser needs to attend the offices of the Municipality and open a new account in his/her name.
The Purchaser must have the following documents at his/her disposal in order to open an account:
- A letter from the Transferring Attorney stating that the Seller’s property has been transferred into the name of the Purchaser; and
- The Purchaser’s Identity Document.
- A Purchaser will know when his/her own account has been opened when a new account number is issued to him/her.
- Once the Purchaser has successfully opened his/her account with the Municipality being equipped with the new account number, he/she should inform the Seller that this has been done.
WHAT TO DO AS THE SELLER
- Once the Purchaser has opened his/her rates account, the Seller needs to attend the offices of the Municipality to close his/her rates account.
The Seller must have the following documents at his/her disposal in order to close his/her account :
- A letter from the transferring attorneys stating that the Seller’s property has been transferred into the name of the Purchaser;
- A Utility Bill for the property indicating the account number; and
- The Seller’s Identity Document.
- A Seller will know when his/her account has been closed as he/she will not receive any further accounts from the Municipality.
- The Seller’s account will be closed within 2 – 3 weeks; however, the refund process can take up to 4 months.
- Adjustments are done once the Seller’s account has been closed.
- The Municipality reverses any incorrect changes that were levied against the Seller’s account from date of registration onwards.
- Adjustments can take several weeks to complete as they are processed by the different Municipal Departments responsible for the different services.
- Refunds owing to the Seller can only be applied for once the Seller’s account has been closed and the Municipality has successfully adjusted the charges that were levied against the Seller’s account after date of registration.
The Seller must have the following documents at his/her disposal in order to obtain a refund from the Municipality:
- A letter addressed to the City of Johannesburg requesting that such refund be paid out to the Seller.
- The letter should include the Purchaser’s and Seller’s names, property description, transfer date and to whom the refund should be paid along with the respective banking details.
- The receipt – EFT receipt or a copy of the cheque obtained when making payment of the clearance figures;
- A bank statement or cancelled cheque reflecting the bank details of the Seller; and
- The Seller’s Identity Document.
- The Municipality should then refund the amount due to the Seller.
For general queries, one can contact the following cities in order to access further information:
CITY OF JOBURG: 0860 joburg (562874)
CITY OF TSWANE: 012 358 9999
CITY OF EKURHULENI: 0860 543 000