The Trustees of Sarie Court Body Corporate v R. Jacobs

The applicant, the Trustees of Sarie Court Body Corporate, brought a dispute-resolution application under section 38 of the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act 9 of 2011 (CSOS Act) against the respondent, R. Jacobs, the owner of Unit 10 in Sarie Court, Germiston. The body corporate alleged that the respondent had failed to pay monthly levies from May 2022 and that, despite attempts to secure payment, the arrears remained outstanding. According to the latest statement submitted by the applicant, the amount due as at 1 November 2023 was R19 400,80, inclusive of interest. The applicant sought an order under section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act compelling payment of the outstanding levies, interest and legal costs. The respondent, although invited to respond, filed no submissions and offered no explanation for the failure to do so. The matter proceeded on the papers after a certificate of non-resolution had been issued.

• Whether the CSOS adjudicator had jurisdiction under section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act to order payment of outstanding body corporate levies.
• Whether the respondent, as owner of a unit in the sectional title scheme, was liable to pay arrear levies and interest claimed by the body corporate.
• Whether the applicant had established on a balance of probabilities that the amount of R19 400,80 was due and payable.
• Whether legal costs could be recovered by the body corporate in the absence of the member's agreement, taxation, or a court/adjudicative order authorising them.

The application was upheld. The respondent was ordered to pay the applicant R19 400,80, inclusive of interest, in four equal instalments of R4 850,20 commencing on 1 December 2023, with the final instalment due on 1 March 2024. If the respondent failed to make the instalment payments, the full outstanding amount would become immediately due and payable. No order as to costs was made.

An owner of a unit in a sectional title scheme is obliged, by virtue of ownership and the statutory/rule-based framework governing the body corporate, to pay duly levied contributions. Where a body corporate establishes on a balance of probabilities that levies and interest are outstanding, CSOS may grant an order under section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act for payment of those arrears. Legal costs, however, are not recoverable from the owner merely because the body corporate has incurred them; they become payable only if agreed by the owner, taxed, or authorised by a competent order or judgment.

The adjudicator made broader observations that owners who purchase into community schemes voluntarily accept the scheme's governance framework and are expected to comply with levy obligations. The order also noted the respondent's apparent unwillingness to pay, but that comment was not necessary to the core legal conclusion. Some discussion of contractual submission to scheme rules, drawn from homeowners' association jurisprudence, was ancillary to the main finding on statutory levy liability.

The matter reaffirms, in the CSOS adjudication context, that payment of levies is a core incident of ownership in a sectional title scheme and that a body corporate may recover arrear contributions through section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act where documentary proof is provided. It is also significant for confirming that legal costs cannot simply be debited to an owner's account unless they are agreed, taxed, or otherwise authorised, reflecting the limits imposed by prescribed management rules and case law.