Edwin Clifford Jansen Van Rensburg v The Trustees of Athos Vilas Body Corporate

The applicant, Edwin Clifford Jansen Van Rensburg, is the owner of a unit in the scheme and challenged charges debited to his levy account by the respondent body corporate. He alleged that amounts of R6 221.05 and R1 089 had been added to his levy account as legal costs relating to a summons, without proper authority and in circumstances where special levies had allegedly not been correctly instituted. The applicant stated that he had entered into a payment arrangement with the respondent to settle arrears, but despite complying with that arrangement, the respondent proceeded with summons and charged him legal costs. He further claimed that the respondent had promised to remove the charges but failed to do so. The respondent did not file any submissions in the adjudication despite being invited to respond.

• Whether the respondent body corporate was entitled to debit the applicant's levy account with legal costs for summons in the amounts of R6 221.05 and R1 089.
• Whether, under Prescribed Management Rule 25(4) and 25(5), a body corporate may recover legal costs from a member without the costs having been taxed, agreed, or authorised by consent, judgment, or order.
• Whether the contributions or charges debited to the applicant's account were incorrectly determined or unreasonable under section 39(1)(c) and (e) of the CSOS Act.

The relief sought by the applicant was granted. The respondent was ordered to remove the amounts of R6 221.05 and R1 089, described as untaxed legal fees, from the applicant's levy account and to issue the applicant with a revised levy statement excluding those legal fees within 10 days of the order. No order was made as to costs.

A body corporate is not entitled to debit an owner's levy account with legal costs that are not contributions or properly levied charges unless those costs have been agreed by the member, authorised by a judgment or order, or, where applicable, taxed so as to establish the recoverable amount. In the absence of proof that legal costs were taxed or otherwise duly authorised, their inclusion on the owner's levy account is impermissible and must be reversed under section 39(1)(c) and (e) of the CSOS Act.

The adjudicator observed, with reference to Mount Edgecombe Country Club Estate Management Association II (RF) NPC v Singh & Others, that the relationship between a community scheme association and its members is contractual in nature. The adjudicator also made general remarks about evidentiary principles, namely that disputes are decided on relevance, credibility, reliability, and a balance of probabilities. These observations were supportive of the reasoning but not themselves the direct basis of the order.

This adjudication is significant in community schemes jurisprudence because it affirms that a body corporate may not simply load legal fees onto an owner's levy account without proper legal authority. It underscores the operation of PMR 25(4) and 25(5), especially the requirement that legal costs be taxed, agreed, or otherwise authorised before recovery from a member. The decision also illustrates the protective role of the CSOS dispute-resolution framework in scrutinising levy and charge disputes where a scheme fails to justify debits on an owner's account.