'Good rules make good neighbours.' (Old proverb, updated) The many benefits of living in a residential complex come, naturally enough, with obligations as well as rights. With its innate potential for conflict between competing rights, community living requires a fine balancing act between the individual rights of owners and residents, and the rights of the community as a whole. Good rules make good neighbours Which is of course where a complex’s rules and regulations come in

'The only man who sticks closer to you in adversity than a friend is a creditor.' (Evan Esar) Body corporates face a familiar problem. Owners fall into arrears. Levies go unpaid. Legal costs mount. The temptation is to reach for the most forceful remedy available. Sequestration may seem like that remedy. If an owner will not pay, why not have them declared insolvent? A recent Gauteng High Court judgment offers a clear warning. A body corporate sought the sequestration of a un

'Good fences make good neighbours.' (Robert Frost) When you buy into a community scheme (such as a security estate, complex or apartment...