Selling preloved goods from sectional title | Tips on how not to be a nuisance
18 August 2023 | Nicole Tavares
Gone are the days where we share our “hand-me-downs” for free with those around us. This may be due to people looking for additional income streams and/or the positive shift to a more minimalistic way of living, or the simple progression of buying “vintage” and/or “thrifting”. With this form of individual trade becoming ever so popular, this article will focus on the impact, if any, it could have should you be selling your preloved goods from your sectional title scheme.
As with everything in sectional title, the first thing we will look at is the Prescribed Conduct Rules (“PCR”) of Annexure 2 of the Regulations to the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act 8 of 2011, and in this regard PCR 7 covers the behaviour of occupiers and visitors where they (1) must not create noise likely to interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of others and (2) must not obstruct the lawful use of the common property.
Now, if your scheme’s conduct rules have been amended and/or updated, you will most likely find that they include rules prohibiting:
Running a business,
Auctions,
Jumbo sales,
Markets,
Exhibitions and the like.
But how could the above rules affect the simple buying and selling of your personal items?
Well… if you are not registered as a business - no problem, if you are not holding a live auction – no problem, if you are not hosting a jumbo/garage sale – no problem and, you guessed it, no problem if you are not having a set up market and/or exhibition within the scheme.
However, what could the possible problems then be?
If you allow access to the scheme by potential customers, there would be more foot traffic into your scheme, which could provide the following issues:
noise nuisance,
the disruption of the peaceful enjoyment of the common property, and
parking issues.
The extensive use of the scheme’s entrance and/or exit gate:
The opening and closing of the gate could lead to the requirement for maintenance to be carried out sooner than budgeted for.
And what I would say is the biggest problem – the security of those in the scheme:
With more people coming and going, who would be responsible for them?
Would the owner or tenant physically walk the purchasers in and out of the scheme?
Would additional security guards need to be hired?
As you can see from the above 3 examples, the buying and selling of personal items within the scheme could raise some serious issues.
Here are 4 tips to avoid becoming the cause of the nuisance:
Meet the purchasers in a different location all together, or at the very least, outside of the scheme.
Should you have people entering the scheme to view and/or collect items, ensure that you limit the amount of people, and times that they enter.
Ensure that all potential buyers adhere to the scheme’s rules, as you will be held accountable should they not, and this may even result in you receiving a fine.
Respect those around you, don’t take up all the visitors' parking, don’t have loud conversations in the entrance halls, and don’t arrange collections at inconvenient times.
In closing, our suggestion would be that the conduct rules be updated to provide clarity on the above, as while it could be a once-off issue, it could also pose a real risk to the scheme. And as a seller, to avoid any nuisance at all perhaps delivery might be the safest option.
Should you require assistance in regard to this topic, don’t hesitate to contact us today on 061 536 3138 or at info@tvdmconsultants.com
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About the Author
Nicole Tavares is the Co-Founder and Director at TVDM Consultants.
To read more about Nicole, please click here.