Since inception of the Property Practitioners’ Act, Property Practitioners have sought a solution to the following scenario:
You have an executor/curator/investment seller, who has no knowledge of the property’s condition at all, and who refuses to sign a property condition report. What now?
In the light of the history of this document (which was, to our knowledge, introduced by the former EAAB in order to protect agents against claims of non-disclosure), we have interpreted the Act to mean that if you are faced with a seller who is not willing to sign, for the above reasons, you could possibly use an addendum to address this, and still protect yourself.
Please note, we received correspondence from the PPRA yesterday, that in their view, the Property Condition Report serves to protect the consumer. Secondly, they also confirmed that Property Practitioners who do not comply, face the risk of disciplinary sanction without exception.
As such, and to finally answer the question that has been raised: If your seller does not want to sign off on the condition report, you may not market the property.
In the PPRA’s defence, sellers must simply be made aware of the fact, that these reports do not bind the seller in any manner at all. It is a declaration made to the best of the seller’s knowledge and belief. It does not amount to a warranty of any kind.
We therefore advise all Property Practitioners to turn down any mandates where the seller refuses to complete and sign such a report, with immediate effect. If you have a pending mandate, but no completed report, get one right away, or you will be forced to terminate the mandate.
There are no exceptions, it seems.