Since the inception of the CPA in April this year, attorneys have been inundated with queries whether the Consumer Protection Act applies to Estate Agents or not. Since there are several opinions of the legal minded and even the man on the street, the later should be left to our prominent courts to clarify. However it is commonly undisputed that the Consumer Protection Act does apply to Developers. The reason for that is that the CPA applies to any person who supplies goods or services in the ordinary course of business as developers evidently do.
Property developers have had little time to get use to dramatic changes the Consumer Protection Act has brought to the property industry. At the end of March, developers found themselves bound to water tight contracts, or at least most developers. The maximum penalties for transgressions prescribed by the Consumer Protection Act will serve as an immense deterrent to property developers marketing or selling of a unit that does no record the purchaser’s expectations or what was projected to him/her.
The Property must be delivered to the purchaser in accordance with all material aspects to any description, artist impression or plans that was provided to purchasers before the sale. Thus if the purchaser was acquainted to a property by means of a show house that is part of a particular development, the property purchased must be delivered to the purchaser complying with all material aspects as contained in the show house
The CPA will eliminate shoddy workmanship of developers in the near future in protecting consumers as set out as the main aim of the Act. Although it serves to protect purchasers, its requirements will be a tough transition for unscrupulous developers. Estate Agents must ensure when marketing developments that they get proper instructions in writing from the developer as to exactly what is being marketed and sold to avoid disputes later on.
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