A contentious issue



The question of pets in sectional title schemes remains a contentious one, and is often the source of heated debate between members of the body corporate - despite the fact that the matter is clearly dealt with in the very first of the prescribed conduct rules. These rules apply in all ST schemes unless they are specifically amended by the developer before establishment, or by the body corporate after establishment, and unless those amendments have been filed with the local Registrar of Deeds. The first conduct rule states, in part, that 'an owner or occupier of a section shall not, without the consent in writing of the trustees, which approval may not unreasonably be withheld, keep any animal, reptile or bird in a section or on the common property'. This rule also says that the trustees may impose reasonable conditions on pet owners and may withdraw their consent if the conditions are not met. The practical effect of this is that, in the absence of an amended rule, the trustees of the body corporate must grant a pet owner's request to keep their pets unless there are good reasons not to do so - and that the pet owner must keep to any conditions set by the trustees. What is more, there have been four Court rulings since 1997 that make the situation even clearer in schemes where the conduct rules have not been amended. In one, made in the Pretoria High Court, the judge ruled that the trustees of a scheme had acted unreasonably in refusing permission for an owner to keep three cats in a flat. The applicant had very sound reasons for wanting to keep the cats and had agreed that they would be confined to the flat. The judge ordered the body corporate to pay costs. There are similar cases concerning high-rise ST schemes in Durban and Amanzimtoti and the effect of these rulings is that every application to keep a pet has to be treated on its merits and, using the words of two judges, requires the trustees 'to apply their minds'. On the other hand, pet owners should be aware that in schemes where the pets rule has been properly amended, either by the developer or by the body corporate, trustees have no choice but to follow the new rule, no matter what they think of a resident's pleas to bend it. In addition, they have the right to enforce the amended rule, even if it appears to conflict with the constitutional rights of the pet owner. The Witwatersrand High Court made this clear when it ruled in the case of three residents in a sectional title block whose dogs were felt by the other residents to pose a threat to their safety. Applying its rules, the body corporate had ordered the owners to remove the dogs from the complex. The owners disputed this decision, but the court upheld it, on the grounds that the body corporate was quite entitled to control and regulate the affairs of the complex. Furthermore, it said that people who chose to buy sectional title units should accept that limitations might be placed on their rights. The end result is that it is up to pet owners to check, before they buy into an ST scheme, whether they will be allowed to keep pets there - and under what conditions. Similarly, it is up to those who would prefer to live in a pet-free scheme to ensure that they choose one where the pet rule has been properly amended to exclude the keeping of animals. Article: Property24 News - for the latest real estate news, visit www.property24.co.za