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Delighted debtor will not lose his home after all

LUCKY Molekoa can now sleep easy because he will not lose his house.

Molekoa accused his attorney of flouting the law by wanting to sell his house despite a Constitutional Court ruling that it is unconstitutional for homes to be declared executable when granting a default judgment.

Molekoa said he did not think that using his house as security for a loan gave the attorney license to sell his house.

Michael Tilney of Tilney Incorporated has agreed to accept repayments in installments of R4000 rather than the lump sum he was demanding.

Molekoa approached Consumer Line after his lawyer rejected his attempt to repay his loan piecemeal.

"He ignored my offer to pay him R6000 in July and sent me a letter demanding that I place my house with his agent, who would sell it," Molekoa said.

He said he was in arrears on his car installment and his bank was threatening to repossess his car so he asked a friend if he knew a financial service provider who would give him a loan of R8 000.

His friend referred him to Tilney who had once helped the friend.

Tilney is not registered with the National Credit Regulator as a lender, but he lent Molekoa R8000 and charged him interest of 100%, Molekoa said.

"I accepted this because I was in financial straits and was also trying to sell my house because I wanted to lower my standard of living," he said.

Molekoa said he could not get a buyer who could afford the price of his house.

When they took the loan, Molekoa and his wife signed an acknowledgement of debt in which they agreed to repay R16000 from the proceeds of the sale of their home at the end of February.

They also agreed that if they failed to meet their undertaking, the entire amount would be repaid with additional interest of 15,5 % per annum as well as attorneys' costs, Molekoa said.

The acknowledgement of debt also allowed Tilney to sell the house through an estate agent of the lawyer's at the related market price.

When he was unable to get a buyer Molekoa notified Tilney and offered to repay his debt in installments of R4000, but the attorney rejected the offer, he said.

Molekoa then enlisted the services of Legal Wise, which tried to negotiate repayment terms with Tilney, but also failed, Molekoa said.

He said his moneylender served him with a summons, demanding his R16000 with 15,5% interest and costs, Molekoa said.

Clause 5 of Molekoa's acknowledgement of debt states that no agreement or variation of the terms and conditions of this acknowledgement shall be binding on the creditor, unless produced in writing and signed by Tilney.

Tilney confirmed that he gave Molekoa a loan in October 2010.

He said he would not accept repayment in installments because he is not a moneylender, but encouraged Molekoa to save the money and deposit it when he had the full amount of R16000.

"I can't accept the money in installments. I am not his financial manager. He should deposit the money into his attorney's trust account and then pay me the full amount," Tilney said.

He also said that though Molekoa had previously offered to repay the money, he had failed to do so.

Legal Wise confirmed they had tried to negotiate repayment arrangement, without luck.

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