Loan shark hooked
Court orders reversal of fraudulent home sales and urges prosecutors to probe criminal acts
HOME SWEET HOME: Pinky Mkhwanazi almost lost her house to Quartermark Investments under the pretext that she was signing a loan agreement. She received R12,000 of the loan amount, repaid R99,000 in monthly instalments and then discovered she no longer owned her house. PHOTO: SIBUSISO MSIBIThuli Zungu is our consumer editor and she is here to help YOU, our readers. Click here to see more advice..
THE Johannesburg high court has ruled that homeowners cannot lose their properties after unknowingly selling them by signing fraudulent documents they did not read.
The ruling was based on the case of Pinky Mkhwanazi, 38, of Klipfontein in Midrand, north of Johannesburg, who lost her home after she secured a R30,000 loan.
The loan shark later claimed ownership of her house and attempted to sell it back to her for R440,000 as a sign of "goodwill".
In a precedent-setting ruling Judge Brian Spilg declared null and void the dodgy contract Mkhwanazi signed thinking it was a cash loan, but which turned out to be a fraudulent sale of her house to Brett Pravon of Quartermark Investments.
Mkhwanazi's case has dealt a blow to fraudsters preying on financially distressed homeowners.
Mkhwanazi's troubles started when she lost her job in 2006 and was waiting for her provident fund payout. She was in financial distress and needed a loan to ease a lack of cash flow.
She fell into arrears with both her car and house instalments which prompted her to get a loan, she said.
She said a friend referred her to a certain George Thebe at Quartermark, who later came to her house.
"I only needed R30,000 to squash my arrears," the mother of three said.
A few days later, in 2007, Thebe hurriedly made her sign the blank contract
"I trusted him, probably because I was so desperate. I just could not afford to lose the opportunity to pay off my arrears to save both my house and car from being repossessed."
Three days later, she received R12,000 to pay the arrears on her car and was assured the house arrears would be sorted directly with the bank.
She repaid her loan in monthly instalments of R3,000 over 33 months until she discovered that she no longer owned her house.
"I was extremely shocked. I almost fainted when I stumbled on a water and lights bill with Quartermark Investments' name on it."
She later discovered she had unknowingly sold her house to Quartermark, who was now willing to sell it back to her for R440,000.
She had already lost her house when she approached Speak Out , an SABC consumer affairs show, to try and get her house back.
Mkhwanazi also approached Consumer Line for help, but we could only refer her to the Legal Resources Centre, where her case was assigned to Nathi Mkhize of Mkhize Attorneys.
The contract she signed had some spaces not filled in at the time of signing.
Mkhize's intervention has not only brought a smile to Mkhwanazi's face, but it brought about change in the property industry and set a new precedent in that when ruling in Mkhwanazi's favour, the judge said it was not enough that Mkhwanazi saw the contents of the documents she was signing.
The judge ordered the reversal of the alleged "sale" and that the property should not be transferred to any other party.
The ruling by Judge Spilg has paved the way for many to have the "sale" of their properties rescinded for similar reasons.
* Christian Ndlovu applied for a loan of R30,000 but only received R8,000. He repaid R2,500 a month for a year before he realised that he did not own his house anymore.
He too had unknowingly sold it to Quartermark Investments for R30,000.
This company was in turn selling it for R440,000 to any willing buyer, said Ndlovu.
* Stephen Machaba and Gibson Sedibe also claim to have lost their properties to the same company.
PapaJR
"I trusted him, probably because I was so desperate.this is where most of us get fraud-ed or scammed cos of desperation times,this Quartermark Investments they seem to scam people easy cos they are desperate
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Bolander4romRodi
They are a bunch of crooks who should be locked behind bars for fraud.Report Abuse
kolobe
whats so difficult for people to get loans from your absa,ned,std,fnb,capi,afri??? loan shraks have never been good for anyone and thats why they are called "loan sharks".if you approached a bank and told them about your problems they wouldnt have a problem youReport Abuse
ORACLE
@ kolobeThe lady lost her job in 2006, banks dont give loans to unemployed people.
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green2014
Loaning money to service a debt, that's desperation at its best. I bet she has more cards than her fingers but only one salary and one wallet, not counting the dairy of course. It means this lady was leaving beyond her means. The moment you think of borrowing money, then you are living beyond your means. That is caused by a disease most of us suffer from, conspicuous consumption - buy, buy, buy everything except yourself, even when there is no money. Most of us just buy rubbish, things we don't really need but want because so and so has it, because your saw it on tv or some magazine and it looked nice or some other simplistic and limping argument. Before you buy anything, ask yourself repeatedly whether you really need it to ensure you don't become a victim of unrestrained consumption. Some people are so meek, lack self assertivenss, have low-self esteem that they get cajoled by sales assistants to buy things they don't really need. Some people buy because they see a SALE sign, which more often than not has been hanging in the display window since the business opened its doors. I wish we could change our buying into saving habits so that at least we can give our children a good start in life.Report Abuse
tpaz
@green2014, I agree 100%. Mzansi people like to live way beyond their means.i would rather use a Taxi knowing i am a property owner than but a GTI6 , yet rent in a flat in sunnyside.
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Pabi
people are so cruel, how can they make other people to lose their properties like that? and is tru that if you are desperate u just to what u are told to do, your mind frizes because u are desperate for assistance I don't blame Mkhwanazi for signing blank documents she trusted this guy, thinking black brother won't make anything stupid. we all know now that Quartermark Investments is no goodReport Abuse