Is this fair justice, or just a con? By: Elbie Bekker Naude 2014-10-17 15:24 I am sharing my experience with our readers to demonstrate the lack of protection I have received while dealing with our justice system. Hopefully it would also serve as a warning to women who might find themselves in a similar position and also to set the wheels in motion to receive public opinion to this unfairness. My story goes back to 2004 when I was legally divorced in a court of law. As normally required, a divorce agreement was drawn up and the contends thereof was made an order of the court. In laymen’s terms, the agreement was very straightforward without any complicated legal ambiguities. One of the clauses stipulated that my ex – husband would be responsible for the payment of the outstanding mortgage bond on our house, rates and taxes and the water and electricity account. Another clause stipulated that I was entitled to half of the property should we sell one day or my ex pays me out. I met my new husband 2 years later, moved out the house while my ex moved back in with our 2 school going daughters. Incidentally, I grew up in that house and has paid for most, if not all, the renovations that we undertook over the years. Until our divorce, I made sure that the bond was paid every month out of my own salary. My ex was abroad most of the time. During 2007, I was telephonically contacted at my business by someone from the bank’s legal department stating that the bond was in arrears. I explained my position regarding the divorce agreement clause and was requested to forward a copy of the agreement to the bank. I immediately responded by faxing the agreement as well as my recent contact details like home and business addresses, telephone and fax numbers and my personal and business email addresses. My ex, who undertook and promised to inform the bank about our agreement, claimed he did so. Nevertheless, I never heard from the bank again, neither telephonically or by postal or electronic mail. No summons was ever served on my person or at any of my domicilium citandi. During 2009, I learned that our property was sold by auction and that my ex husband had declared himself insolvent by a court prior to this. I was not aware of any legal action that that took place and was met with hostility and even absolute surprise when I finally reached the trustee that handled my ex’s insolvency. Something like “Now where do you come from all of a sudden”. The trustee had no idea of my claim to half of the property. The property was estimated to be worth R1.2m in 2005 and was consequently sold for R450, 000 on the auction. When I stopped paying the bond, a balance of about R65, 000 was still outstanding. Because of the outstanding account, interest was added and we were consequently summoned for R124, 000. The trustee allocated costs like the outstanding water and electricity account of almost R75,000 and my ex’s eviction costs of R41,000 amongst others from my “half” of the property. The irony of it all is that after the trustee had finished paying every T,D & H that was involved with the house selling deal, an amount of some R30,000 still remained outstanding to the bank. There was also no other claims against the insolvent estate except the bond. The trustee sent me a copy of the summons after the property was sold. After a long and bitter email battle between the Master’s office, the trustee and myself it was decided in 2012 that I have no claim to my share of the property. Because of my ex’s insolvency status, the bank is now nailing me for the outstanding amount, growing daily with the exuberant interest on interest charges. After explaining to the bank that I was not supposed to be have been summoned in the first instance, they finally agreed to offer me a letter to have the summons reversed. In the same breath, the bank states that I cannot hold them responsible for any legal costs and also that they would appeal because of the time lapse. I have been trying since 2009 without success to get the bank to admit their mistake and now they want to squeal about a time period that has lapsed. That was part 2 of my legal woes. The first part deals with gaining affordable legal advice. Although I ran my own business from 1998 to 2010, my cash flow just did not allow me to be able to afford a lawyer. Since 2009, I have consulted with 6 different attorneys and the outcome was the same every time:”We can assist you to successfully lay claim to your half of the property, provided you deposit Rxx, xxx.xx (very silly unaffordable amount) into our trust account first”. I suggested unsuccessfully that if they are sure about their case, why not just deduct all their costs from my claim after it was awarded by the court? It was obviously a silly suggestion. My bank would not even give me a loan for that purpose. I approached the Legal Aid Board for assistance but my application was not approved because I was a “business owner.” After closing my business in 2010, I pursued a career in the corporate world earning an average salary. During this period, I applied to the Law Society of SA for pro bono representation, but was also declined their services because my salary was” too high”. I am currently the only sustainable breadwinner as my husband only earns a pittance doing menial jobs after his accident in 2011. The long and the short are – you cannot get a lawyer in SA unless you have enough money up front. Back at the ranch, certain individuals and politicians receives millions of rand in legal costs to prevent them from going to prison for crimes committed. I have committed no crime and nobody suffered financially because of me. I just wanted my day in court. Secondly, it seems that court orders are worth the paper it is written on and gets disregarded and valued as worthless by far too many people in our country. I had so much trust in that court order because it gave me a sense of security knowing that everything we decided upon was legally protected by a court of law. I agree, the bank had all the reason to claim their losses but by selling the property for far less than it is worth and still owing them money afterwards, smells like a big rotten rat. Also the way the bank and the trustee went about by conveniently denying me any right to defend my property. If I was aware of any legal action taking place, I could have made arrangements with the bank to settle the outstanding amount. How, in the name of justice, can anyone call the agony I went through as fair treatment? Maybe I must commit a crime first and see if I can plead “impoverishment” as extenuating circumstances in court. Perhaps the court will then hear why I burned that certain bank to the ground out of sheer frustration and disappointment. Also then, this said banks and trustees name will be made public for the unscrupulous and deceitful rats they are. Elizabeth Naudé m.news24/news24/MyNews24/Is-this-fair-justice-or-just-a-con-20141017
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 15:41:57 +0000
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