2010/06/01 09:51:44 AM alicia Posts: 5	If the tenant pays the rent on time incl. W&L but the owner is in arears with the levies - Can the body corporate cut the tenant's electricity? Can the body corporate demand the agent to pay the levies (and arrears) from the rent they have collected for the owner before the agent pays the rent over to the owner?
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2010/08/04 09:54:13 AM Graham Jones Posts: 2	I think this is a very interesting question as to the legality of the Body Corp cutting the electricity. Lets add a further step and say the tenant has not paid in full and the owner has not paid levies.While we know the owner is not permitted to cut electricity - can the body corporte cut due to non payment by the owner or is it only the municipality who legally can cut electricity. Michelle or Mike could you please comment here. As to the second part I do not believe that agent needs to comply with any instructions from the body Corporte without any legal action as there is no legal connection between the two parties. The agent has a mandate only with the owner and acts on his behalf and has no connection with the body corporte.
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2010/08/10 10:36:44 AM Michelle Posts: 142	Only the provider of electricity has the right to disconnect services. (Eskom, Municipality). The body corporate might argue they provide electricity for the complex and they have the right to disconnect. But, if the tenant's electricity is up-to-date, the body corporate cannot disconnect electricity. Also - the body corporate cannot demand the estate agent or tenant pay this account on behalf of the landlord if this is not specifically mandated by the landlord.
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2010/08/16 10:17:26 AM helenm Posts: 2	Hi Michelle, Can I get the electricity desconnected if the tenant is in arrears and the electricity is registered with the landlord. Ie the account is in the landlords name, I reaise an invoice for the electricity every month.
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2010/08/16 12:45:14 PM Michelle Posts: 142	If the electricity account is in arrears then the service provider may disconnect. It does not matter if the electricity is in the landlord's name or the tenant's name. The crux is the electricity account is in arrears.
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2011/02/21 12:01:41 PM Dezsly Posts: 1	Can an owner request a body corporate to cut the electricity for a tenant if the rent is in arrears (lets say a week in arrears)? In this case the owner states that he is unwilling to pay funds over to the body corporate due to the rent not being paid in full. or is it only the provider of the electricity who is allowed to cut electricity (ie Eskom)? And would this request to Eskom have to be a written request?
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2011/02/22 05:27:59 AM Michelle Posts: 142	A landlord may not disconnect utilities (elec or water), in fact the landlord cannot instruct the service provider (Eskom, municipality or the body corporate) to disconnect as this would be seen as the landlord's attempt to evict the tenant without a court order. However, should the landlord be unable to pay the utilities as a result of the tenant's failure to pay the landlord, or should the landlord find out the utilities have not been paid by the tenant, then the landlord can bring to the attention of the service provider the non-payment and service providers risk of non-payment / default. It is then the service provider's decision on whether the amount ain default and the risk of non-collection is great enough to warrant the disconnection.
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2011/02/24 01:14:13 PM JLRDP Posts: 4	Just as a matter of interest, the Gauteng Housing Tribunal upheld the disconnection of electricity by a body corporate in 2010. The owner was informed in writing by the body corporate they were in arrears and that they needed to pay within 7 days and if they did not the services woulde be terminated. It was because the owner was informed in writing and given 7 days to pay the disconnection was upheld by the Tribunal. The body corporate was for the property Eastlake on the West Rand
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2011/03/10 03:51:06 PM Sumari Posts: 2	What if it is a estate that provides own electricity, eg; have own sub-station on the estate but still gets services for Eskom? The Estate also has own refuge and water supplies, self sufficient estate, so all owners will pays basic service charges to the Services department, the levies is payable to the Body Corporate, i.o.w, no monies gets paid to the local authorities. Now some owners has tenants in their properties and some are in arears - so can the management of the estate cut all services to the property, even tho the tenant pays on time and in full and can they charge an amount of R2K for disconnection and R2K for re-connection fees. This means the tenant will be without water and electricity...
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