The was a scare recently relating to old Municipal Accounts and their attaching to the new owner of a property that has changed hands.

Some Municipalities claimed that the new owner was liable for the old debts and threatened to cut off electricity and water supplies if those old debts remained unpaid.

This can no longer be the case. A recent Pretoria High Court judgement has cleared the air. Only if the property was bought on sherrif’s auction does the new owner become liable for old Municipal debts attaching to the property.

The case is currently on appeal to the Constitutional Court, but is unlikely to be overturned.