The Trustees of Sentinel Body Corporate v N. A. Langa

The applicant, the Trustees of Sentinel Body Corporate, brought a dispute-resolution application to the Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS) under section 38 of the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act 9 of 2011. The respondent, N. A. Langa, is the owner of Unit 1 in the Sentinel scheme in Musgrave, Durban. The body corporate alleged that the respondent had failed to pay monthly levies from March 2023 and that, despite attempts to procure payment, the arrears remained outstanding. According to the latest statement submitted by the applicant, the amount owing as at 1 November 2023 was R12 486,95. The respondent was invited to file written submissions by 8 November 2023 but failed to respond or explain the default. The matter proceeded on the papers after a certificate of non-resolution had been issued and the matter was referred to adjudication.

• Whether the respondent, as owner of a unit in the sectional title scheme, was liable to pay the outstanding levies claimed by the body corporate.
• Whether the applicant had established on a balance of probabilities that R12 486,95 was due and payable as arrear levies.
• Whether section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act empowered the adjudicator to order payment of the arrear levy amount and interest.
• Whether any order for legal costs should be granted against the respondent.

The application succeeded. The adjudicator upheld the relief sought by the applicant and ordered the respondent to pay the outstanding levy amount of R12 486,95 in three equal instalments of R4 162,31, commencing on 1 December 2023 and with the last instalment due on 1 February 2024. If the respondent failed to make payment, the full amount would immediately become due and payable. No order as to costs was made.

An owner of a unit in a sectional title scheme is liable to pay duly raised body corporate levies as an incident of ownership. Where a body corporate proves, on a balance of probabilities, that levy contributions are outstanding, section 39(1)(e) of the CSOS Act empowers an adjudicator to order payment of those arrears. In the absence of any rebutting evidence from the owner, the body corporate’s documentary proof of arrear levies may be accepted and enforced through a CSOS adjudication order.

The adjudicator made general observations about the assessment of evidence on a balance of probabilities, the relevance of unopposed evidence, and the contractual or statutory character of scheme rules and owners’ acceptance of them when purchasing into a scheme. The adjudicator also referred to provisions and authorities concerning interest and legal costs recoverable by a body corporate, but these remarks were not fully carried through into the final operative order, as no costs order was made and the final order expressly dealt with payment of the levy amount.

The decision confirms the enforceability of levy obligations in sectional title and community schemes through the CSOS adjudication process. It illustrates that arrear levies may be recovered by a body corporate on the papers where documentary proof is provided and the owner does not dispute liability. The matter also reflects the interaction between the CSOS Act and the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act in providing an accessible statutory mechanism for enforcing owners’ financial obligations to a body corporate.