Deciding how sectional title expropriation compensation is to be shared among owners

If the members of a sectional title body corporate cannot agree on the distribution of the compensation due to the scheme for a common property expropriation, the dispute must, in terms of the STSM Act, be referred to the CSOS for determination.

In terms of section 12 of the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act:

(1) (a) Whenever the whole or any part of, or any right in, the common property is expropriated in terms of any law, service of a notice of expropriation on the body corporate is considered to be service thereof on the registered owner of every section in the building or buildings concerned.
(b) Each and every such owner is considered to have appointed the trustees of the body corporate concerned as his or her duly authorised agents and representatives-

(i) to negotiate and settle the compensation payable to him or her, and to that end to employ attorneys, advocates and other experts; and
(ii) on his or her behalf, to receive and give valid acquittance for any compensation moneys paid.

(2) Any compensation moneys received by the trustees on behalf of the owners in terms of subsection (1), must be paid to the owners in accordance with their participation quotas after they have received notice of such distribution in writing: Provided that an owner may notify the trustees within 30 days of receipt of such notice but before such moneys are so distributed that he or she considers such a distribution inequitable, in which event the compensation moneys must be distributed-

(a) in accordance with a distribution approved by unanimous resolution; or
(b) in accordance with a distribution determined on application to an ombud.

The only instance in which this order is applicable is when there is an expropriation (a legally authorised taking) of a part of the common property in a sectional title scheme and the owners cannot agree on how the compensation payable will be distributed amongst them.

In this case the trustees or an owner can make application to the CSOS for an order determining how the compensation must be paid.

An example of the type of order the CSOS could give is:

That the Body Corporate of the Twelve Park Road Scheme must pay the expropriation consideration received from ESKOM to owners in accordance with their participation quotas. This order takes effect immediately and the payment must be made within 21 days of this order.

If you would like to see the whole of the Community Schemes Ombud Service Act, 9 of 2011, including the full text of chapter 3 that covers applications, you can access this from Paddocks’ resource library.

Do you have concerns about your matter, need assistance completing your application, or want a sectional title Consultant to review your application before submission? Have a look at the Paddocks’ Consulting page.

For general help on the CSOS, including the special meanings of the words and phrases “association”, “common area”, “dispute”, “executive committee”, “owner”, and “scheme governance documentation” see the CSOS Information page.

Needing other assistance? Have a look at our Paddocks assistance page, which includes the helpful application guide explanation, for more information.

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If this is the correct order for your issue, the next step would be to make an application.

You can capture your application information online here, or download the form to complete offline later.

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