‘Misled’ flat buyer balks at R32m sale
● A wealthy resident of Monaco who bought a beachfront flat on the promise of “fresh sea breezes” has wound up in a storm of litigation.
Candice Nunn, wife of tanzanite mining mogul Michael Nunn, bought the Sea Point flat for R32m in February last year from Seabeach Property Investment.
Five months later she refused to sign the transfer papers, complaining the seller’s agents, Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty, had misled her into believing that she would have exclusive use of the roof deck.
Her lawyers told Seabeach Property she was pulling out, but company director Esayes Oosthuizen told the Cape Town high court Nunn could not do so on the basis of “buyer’s remorse”.
Nunn’s lawyers said she “specifically asked the seller’s agent” if the roof deck area would belong to her if she bought the unit. The issue was “a material and influencing consideration” in the transaction.
“[She] advised the agent of her intentions to build further rooms in the area. Accordingly, the absolute right to do so was a material factor to be considered by our client when deciding whether to purchase the unit.”
The lawyers said the agent told Nunn that the property covered 616m², but transfer documents said it was only 318m² and made clear the 298m² roof deck constituted common property.
Brendan Miller, CEO of Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty, said his company denied Nunn’s claims.
“[She] was advised from the beginning that the roof deck was not [for] exclusive use and that she would have to obtain body corporate permission to do any work in the flat and on the deck,” said Miller.
“Although we don’t know the reasons for this sudden change of heart, we will not tolerate any unfounded attacks on our reputation and will not allow [Nunn] to use us in a ploy to avoid her obligations.”
Oosthuizen accused Nunn of breaching the sale agreement and referred the impasse to arbitration.
Another stalemate ensured over the referral of the dispute, and Oosthuizen asked the high court to declare that a “contractual dispute has arisen” between the parties and that the matter had been properly referred to arbitration.
The Seabeach director said Nunn’s refusal to take ownership of the property was costing his company R10,700 a month in levies and rates. Last month, judge Andre le Grange ruled in favour of Seabeach Property.
Nunn referred the Sunday Times to her lawyer, Anton Slabbert, who said: “My client intends appealing what she considers to an incorrect judgment and she is confident that her position will be vindicated in due course.”
R32m
THE AMOUNT
for which Candice Nunn, above, bought the Sea Point flat from Seabeach Property last year
R1.1m
Commission for estate agent Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty