A relatively recent innovation in Conduct Rules in Community Schemes has been the exclusion of certain breeds for consideration in the complex as pets. The breeds excluded are usually American Pit Bull Terriers, Bull Terriers, and Staffordshire Bull Terriers ('Staffies'). The problem is, "Breed" is not a scientific taxonomic rank. It's a term used to...
Category: Conduct Rules
Changing Conduct Rules
In South African sectional title schemes, the "conduct rules" regulate how owners and residents behave to ensure peaceful cohabitation in the shared community. These rules are governed by the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act (STSMA) 8 of 2011 and its regulations. TYPES OF CONDUCT RULES Prescribed Conduct Rules (PCRs): These are default rules found in...
Conduct Rules and the Duty to Disclose
In many cases, buyers and renters of Sectional Title properties have had the rather unpleasant surprise of being told, upon moving in, that the community scheme has a ‘no pets’ policy. This has led to anxiety and unnecessary conflict. Estate agents in South Africa are governed primarily by the Estate Agency Affairs Act (now the...
Is “No Pets” Constitutional?
Some schemes have amended the prescribed rules and now have a rule that no pets are allowed in the scheme whatsoever. This absolute prohibition on the keeping of pets could be argued to be an unjustifiable infringement on a person’s right of ownership. Then again, if the rule was in place and filed at the...