Municipality Held Accountable for Debt

Mismanagement – BEELD Report
BEELD Huisgids – Munisipaliteit in bek geruk

Beeld Newspaper, with the kind support of Linette Retief, has been instrumental in bringing attention to our ongoing efforts under Section 118. Our company, Municipal Debt Specialists, has made it our mission to help property owners reduce High Clearance Figures for Rates and Taxes Clearance Certificates. This article highlights how we successfully addressed the misinterpretation of municipal laws that left new homeowners burdened with previous owners’ debts—a challenge we overcame, saving our clients millions. Our Jordaan case is a key part of this fight, ensuring fairness for property owners.

English Version Translated from Afrikaans:

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MUNICIPALITIES PULLED UP SHORT

Since 2013 thousands of new home owners have moved into their new properties with great anticipation. Then they were devastated by a misinterpretation of a court verdict which led to the possibility that municipalities could abuse them. (Municipalities) did this by, amongst other things, cutting off electricity, forcing new owners to sign acknowledgments of debt and refusing to sign new consumer agreements before the previous debt had been settled.

Nowhere in any law relating to municipal systems are municipalities allowed to do this. In this way some consumers have lost thousands of rand, others hundreds of thousands or even millions. One of the unlucky losers was Peter Livanos, managing director of New Ventures Properties. He inherited R7 million (worth of) municipal debt which was not disclosed beforehand at the auctions where he had bought a number of properties.

However, he did not sit in sackcloth and ashes. He used the opportunity to establish a company, New Ventures Consulting & Services. The purpose of the company, which was recently renamed Municipal Debt Specialist, was to help other property owners who were finding themselves in the same dilemma. To date Livanos has saved millions for his clients.

He invites all Beeld and Huisgids readers in the Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Johannesburg municipalities who are busy selling their properties and are being tripped up by high clearance figures (municipal debt) to make use of his services. The best thing about his the service and business model, he says, is that there is absolutely no upfront or extra cost for the client. “We recover the money from the savings,” he explains. Over the past couple of years Livanos has added enormous further value to Municipal Debt Specialist by teaming up with a bridging finance company who can finance outstanding debt to municipalities. “(More good news is that) there will often be no extra cost involved with the bridging finance either. The cost is usually recovered by die savings we create,” he says.

For more information about Municipal Debt Specialist’s services, as well as the background on
the municipal debt dilemma, contact 011 453 2365, email rateshelp@livanosgroup.co.za or visit
www.municipaldebt.co.za – Translated from Beeld