From the very first day the tenant takes occupation of the leased premises, the landlord has a hypothec over the assets on the premises. However, the hypothec only becomes legally enforceable once a Court Order is obtained. Therefore, the tenant is free to remove his/her assets from the premises at any time prior to an Order being obtained.
The best, and in our experience most effective, ways to elicit payment from a habitual defaulting tenant and securing the landlord’s hypothec is by applying to the Magistrate’s Court for a Section 32 Order and simultaneously issuing a Rent Interdict Summons.
The key difference between the Section 32 Application and Rent Interdict Summons is that a Rent Interdict Summons interdicts the tenant from removing any of his/her assets from the premises until the matter is finalised. A Section 32 Application doesn’t just interdict a tenant from removing any of the assets, but can also authorise the Sheriff of the Court to remove the assets, thus avoiding any sneaky midnight attempts by the tenant to abscond with all their goods, leaving you without any security for your claim.
Contact us now to secure your hypothec before it is too late!
Article by: Jesica Barnardo
