Tygerberg Centre Body Corporate v MD Accommodation Finder CC

The applicant, Tygerberg Centre Body Corporate, acting through its managing agent and authorised by trustee resolution dated 30 November 2023, brought an application under section 38 read with section 39(1)(e) of the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act 9 of 2011 (CSOS Act). The respondent, MD Accommodation Finder CC, is the registered owner of unit 35 in the Tygerberg Centre sectional title scheme in Bellville, Cape Town. The body corporate alleged that the respondent had failed over a period of time to pay levy contributions due in respect of the unit. As at October 2023, the arrear amount was R14 285.56, inclusive of interest calculated at 24% per annum. Despite requests for payment, the respondent did not settle the account. A notice calling on the respondent to respond was issued on 18 October 2023, but the respondent failed or neglected to respond to the dispute or to contest the body corporate’s allegations. Conciliation failed, a certificate of non-resolution was issued on 29 November 2023, and the matter proceeded to adjudication on the papers.

• Whether the CSOS had jurisdiction under section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act to order payment of arrear levy contributions.
• Whether the body corporate had established, on a balance of probabilities, that the respondent owed arrear levies in the amount claimed.
• Whether the body corporate was entitled to recover interest on the overdue levy amounts in terms of the applicable management rules and statutory framework.
• Whether any costs order should be made in the circumstances.

The application was granted. The respondent was ordered to pay arrear levy contributions of R14 285.56 in full on or before 30 April 2024. No order as to costs was made.

A body corporate may obtain a CSOS order under section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act compelling payment of arrear levy contributions where it provides sufficient evidence of the debt and the owner fails to rebut that evidence. Levy contributions validly raised under the STSMA and scheme rules are recoverable from the owner of the unit, and interest may be charged on overdue amounts where authorised by written trustee resolution and the applicable management rule. On an uncontested paper record, proof on a balance of probabilities is sufficient for the adjudicator to grant the order.

The adjudicator’s comments that levies are the 'lifeblood' of shared living schemes and that non-payment can seriously destabilise a scheme were general observations explaining the policy importance of regular levy payment. The discussion of the general approach to costs under sections 53 and 54 of the CSOS Act was also ancillary to the decision, as costs were ultimately left to lie where they fell.

This decision reinforces the enforceability of body corporate levy obligations through the CSOS adjudication process. It confirms that arrear levies, with interest where properly authorised, are recoverable under section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act, and that an owner’s failure to respond to the application may result in relief being granted on the papers where the body corporate has produced sufficient proof. The ruling also underscores a recurring principle in sectional title law: levy obligations are essential to the sustainability of communal schemes and cannot be withheld because of dissatisfaction with the body corporate’s decisions.