EVICTIONS DURING AND AFTER THE NATIONAL LOCKDOWN

In these uncertain times a lot of people are getting a reduced salary or no salary at all. This means that a lot of people will not be able to meet all of their obligations, more specifically pay their rent. This can be very frustrating to the landlords and they might want to take action against the non-paying tenants.

The government has luckily issued a moratorium on all evictions during the lockdown period. This means that until the national lockdown has been completely lifted:

• no eviction applications may be heard
• no court orders may be granted
• no existing orders may be executed

But what happens after the lockdown has been lifted?

• The best would be to try and come to an arrangement with your landlord for a payment arrangement to bring the arrear rental up to date in the coming months after the lockdown has ended. This will save costs for both the landlord and the tenant.
• If the landlord does not want to come to an arrangement, they cannot merely demand a tenant to vacate the property due to non-payment in these exceptional circumstances. They will still have to approach the court for an eviction order. The court will also only grant such an order after taking all of the relevant information and facts into account.

If you are in need of assistance regarding an eviction or to negotiate with your landlord or tenants in these trying times, our attorneys at Burden Swart Botha & Maluleke will help you to come to an agreement which will be favourable to all parties. Give us a call and we will be glad to assist.