Joburg property owners face revalued properties nightmare
Will still have to appeal valuation to avoid mandatory Section 25 review
IN AN unexpected complication, Joburg residents whose objections to revalued properties last year have succeeded, and are happy, will still have to appeal if the valuation is more or less than 10% of the original valuation to avoid a mandatory Section 52 review.
This is the new nightmare facing property owners, many of whom don’t understand the system.
To give an example. The owner of a Parktown property found her objection was successful and that the valuation was reduced from R3.438 million to R2.8m. She was happy with the valuation, but it triggered a Section 52 review because the increase was over 10%, so she now has to appeal this. In this case, the estate agents’ valuations were R2.5m and R2.6m, so the reason for her appeal will be straightforward – she will have to claim she is not happy with R2.8m and wants it reduced.
If she fails to do so, Section 52 kicks in. In terms of the Municipal Property Rates Amendment Act, it states that if the municipal valuer changes the value of a property that was objected to by more than 10% upwards or downwards, the Appeal Board must review the objection, confirm, amend or revoke the decision of the municipal valuer.
The problem, the city says, is that Section 52 review is often held years later – it can be up to seven years, behind closed doors, without owners knowing about it, and the only recourse will then be to reverse it via the high court. Often the review board reverses the new-lower value and reinstates the higher one and owners will then get a bill for tens of thousands of rand backdated to the date of the review board decision, he said.
He cautioned property owners to therefore appeal to avoid the Section 52 review.
“If you appeal, then you will be called into an Appeal Board hearing in a year or two where you can present your case yourself (or via a representative appointed by you) where you will get a fair and open hearing. This will circumvent the dreaded Section 52 review,” the City says.
If property owners haven’t yet received any notification as to the outcome of the objection, there are usually two reasons, he said: They haven’t done it yet – check the status of the objection; or The owner requested it be sent to by mail and it got delayed or lost in the post. In this case you will have missed the boat to appeal and will need to try and lodge a Section 78 review.
Appeal documents should be filled in within the time frame given, usually about 40 days, and taken along with the original documents, a new covering letter to the Valuation Department at the Civic Centre.
The City advises residents to take a book to read as there will be queues. Make sure you get confirmation that you handed it in and do not miss the deadline.
Keep all your documents and receipts safe, you will need them in a few years time.