The court has given a body corporation the green light to auction a family home after its owner failed to settle a ballooning levy debt.
The Lombardy Home Owners Association in Tshwane had taken property owners Lillian and Kingsley Makgolela to court over unpaid levies debt amounting to R333,294.
The association was granted a default judgment in March last year and Lillian, the first respondent, later launched a rescission application to reverse the debt order but the application failed.
Lillian failed to keep up with payment, leading to the association to ask the court to allow the sale of Lillian’s property through auction in a follow-up application.
The high court in Johannesburg last week ruled in favour of the association, and the property measuring 796 Sq/m will soon go under the hammer to pay the debt.
Lillian had told the court that there were other reasonable ways to satisfy the debt. She pointed to a valuation report which valued her home at R326,415 and which the court said could not fully pay the debt.
She said she was employed, earning a net salary of R50,000 per month, and was willing to pay R5,000 monthly towards the debt.
By August last year, her debt stood at R544,956 and from November to April this year she started making payment of between R5,353 to R5,853 per month. This did not make any significant dent to her debt, the court said.
The court also noted that definitive turning point came when the sheriff of the court descended on the property on June 19 2025 to attach the owner’s movable belongings.
Lillian informed the sheriff that she had no money to satisfy the mounting debt and confessed that there were no sufficient attachable movable assets on the premises to fulfill the writ. The sheriff subsequently filed a nulla bona (no goods) return.
With the owner admitting she was completely cash-strapped, the association aggressively shifted its focus to the immovable property itself.
The judge ruled that Lillian failed to raise any sustainable defences against the association’s application. The court granted the association the right to sell the property and the defeated homeowner was slapped with a punitive cost order, forcing her to cover the association’s legal fees.
What you need to know
- Disputes between body corporates and homeowners can be refered to the Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS), an ombudmans office which has presence all around the country. Their judgments are legally binding and carry the same weight as a high court decision.
- The CSOS, however, doesn’t get involved in matters that are before a court of law and their services are free.
- CSOS can be reached on 0800-000-653 or emailed at info@csos.org.za
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