General terms

Eligibility to use services

You must have the legal capacity to contract in South Africa and must give us accurate information when you engage our services. The services are intended for individuals, companies, close corporations, trusts and duly authorised representatives involved in a residential property transfer.

Clients must be 18 or older to conclude a binding Offer to Purchase. If you are acting for a minor, a deceased estate, a trust or a person under curatorship, we will need the documents that establish your authority — a resolution, letters of executorship or letters of authority, as the case may be.

The services must be used for lawful purposes. You may not use vindarop content or services to facilitate unlawful activity, to misrepresent a fact material to a transfer, or to infringe anyone else's rights.

Our content describes South African conveyancing practice and the Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937, the Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986 and the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act 8 of 2011 as they apply here. Deeds Office practice varies between the Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg and Bloemfontein registries, and readers outside South Africa should not assume the content applies to their jurisdiction.

Account and client information

Clients may open an account or submit intake information so that a transfer file can be opened. Those details must be kept current and accurate throughout the transfer.

You are responsible for the accuracy of what you submit to vindarop. Incorrect information can delay FICA verification, the rates clearance application or lodgement at the Deeds Office, and may require further verification steps.

Protect your account credentials and tell vindarop promptly if you suspect your account has been compromised. We apply reasonable technical and organisational safeguards as required by section 19 of POPIA, but no system can be guaranteed absolutely secure.

Accounts and mandates are personal and are not transferable without the express written agreement of vindarop and the attorney handling the matter.

If you suspect unauthorised access to your account or your personal information, notify [email protected] through the contact form on vindarop.site/contact and call +27 11 447 3082 for urgent matters, 08:00–17:00 SAST on business days. We will take steps to secure the account and, where section 22 of POPIA requires it, notify you and the Information Regulator.

vindarop may suspend access where misuse or a security incident is suspected, or where required FICA documentation is not provided. Suspension is a remedial step and we will give reasons and, where appropriate, set out how it can be lifted.

Scope of services

vindarop supports the purchase of sectional title units and freehold homes: review of the Offer to Purchase and its suspensive conditions, Deeds Office searches on the title deed, the existing bond, servitudes, endorsements and interdicts, guidance on the terms of the agreement, coordination with the property practitioner, the bank and the body corporate, and preparation of the transfer documents for lodgement. There is no notary role in a South African transfer — the work is done by an attorney admitted as a conveyancer.

Our services and processes may change over time. vindarop will give notice of material changes on the website, or by direct communication to affected clients where that is appropriate.

Availability depends on the capacity of the attorneys involved and on the Deeds Office serving the area in which the property is registered. Some services may be subject to scheduling, regional limitations or further verification.

User responsibilities and rules

When using vindarop services in connection with a property purchase you agree to the following rules and responsibilities.

• Give accurate and complete information for the conduct of the transfer and its due diligence, including the FICA documents required under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001.
• Respond promptly to requests for documents and confirmations, so that the suspensive conditions in the Offer to Purchase can be met within their deadlines.
• Respect confidentiality and do not disclose privileged communications without authorisation.
• Do not submit fraudulent documents or misrepresent identity, ownership, marital regime or the capacity in which you contract.
• Follow the instructions of the attorney handling the matter and of the conveyancing secretary coordinating the file.
• Tell vindarop promptly of anything that affects the transfer — a new bond or servitude, an addendum to the agreement, a change of marital status, or a change of address.
• Accept that timelines for searches, clearance figures and registration depend on third parties: the Deeds Office, the municipality, the body corporate, SARS and the bank.

User-submitted content

You may submit documents, messages and other materials to vindarop as part of a transfer file. Those submissions are governed by these terms.

You keep ownership of the documents and materials you provide, subject to the rights you grant vindarop and the attorneys acting for you to use them in performing the work.

By submitting content you grant vindarop and the appointed attorneys a non-exclusive, revocable licence to use the materials for the purpose of supporting and administering the transfer.

You are responsible for making sure that the documents you submit are authentic and that you are entitled to share them. Forged or fraudulent documents will be reported to the South African Police Service and, where FICA requires it, to the Financial Intelligence Centre.

Requests to remove submitted content are weighed against our legal obligations, matters still in progress, and the record-retention rules that apply to attorneys' files under the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014.

Intellectual property

Content on vindarop.site, including text, graphics, templates and tools, is protected under the Copyright Act 98 of 1978 and is owned by or licensed to vindarop. Use is permitted for personal and client-related purposes only, unless we authorise otherwise in writing.

• Do not reproduce, distribute or create derivative works from vindarop content for commercial use without express permission.
• Do not remove proprietary notices, watermarks or legal disclaimers from materials we supply.
• Any licence granted to a client runs for as long as is needed to administer that matter and does not transfer ownership.

Paid services and fees

Some support and administrative services carry a fee. Fees are set out in the mandate letter, the invoice or the fee schedule given to the client. Indicative packages currently start at R4 999 incl. VAT, with the fuller transfer support package at R8 999 incl. VAT.

What we charge reflects professional time, Deeds Office fees, search costs and disbursements. Estimates are given where we can, but may be adjusted for the work actually done and for third-party charges such as the rates clearance figure, the CSOS levy or FICA searches. Transfer duty payable to SARS is a separate cost borne by the buyer, is nil below roughly R1.2 million and rises on a sliding scale above that. Where the seller is a VAT-registered developer, VAT at 15% applies instead of transfer duty, never both.

All fees are quoted in South African rand and include VAT at 15% unless an invoice states otherwise. Payment is accepted by EFT, PayShap or card through the channels named in our correspondence. Invoices are payable on the terms stated on the invoice or in the mandate.

Where a retainer arrangement is offered, the agreement will state the billing cycle, the services covered and how it is ended.

Refunds of prepaid amounts are dealt with under the applicable mandate terms and according to the work already done, and may be reduced by the time spent and third-party costs already incurred. This does not limit your rights under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008.

You may cancel under section 16 of the CPA, and where the agreement was concluded electronically you may also cancel within seven days under section 44 of ECTA. Cancellation does not relieve you of liability for work already performed or costs already incurred on your behalf.

VAT and any other taxes required by law are added where applicable and itemised on the invoice.

vindarop may change its fees. An existing mandate is governed by the fees agreed when it was given, unless we agree otherwise in writing.

Unpaid invoices may lead to suspension of services, withdrawal from the matter, or recovery steps permitted by the rules of the Legal Practice Council and by the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 where it applies.

Professional disclaimer

What is published on vindarop.site and said in an initial consultation is general information, not legal advice. Advice on your matter requires a reading of the facts and the documents and a formal mandate to an attorney admitted as a conveyancer and regulated by the Legal Practice Council (reg. {lpc_number}). vindarop does not advise on whether to buy, does not guarantee that a bond will be granted, and does not give property valuations.

Limitation of liability

To the extent the law permits, vindarop and the attorneys associated with it limit their liability for the services to the extent stated in the mandate. Nothing in these terms excludes or limits a right that cannot lawfully be excluded, including the rights conferred on consumers by the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 and, where it applies, the implied warranty of quality in section 56.

Third-party services and referrals

vindarop may refer clients to third parties such as property practitioners, bond originators, electrical and gas compliance inspectors, beetle inspectors or land surveyors. A referral is a convenience, not an endorsement. Satisfy yourself about their credentials — a property practitioner, for instance, must be registered with the PPRA under the Property Practitioners Act 22 of 2019 and must hold a valid Fidelity Fund Certificate.

Termination of services

Either party may end a mandate in line with the mandate letter and the conduct rules made under the Legal Practice Act 28 of 2014. The termination process covers handing over the file, settling outstanding fees and notifying the client.

On termination the client remains liable for fees and disbursements incurred up to the effective date. Files are kept and handed over in accordance with the record-retention obligations that apply to attorneys, and any funds held in the trust account are dealt with under section 86 of that Act.

Privacy and data protection

vindarop collects and processes personal information in accordance with its privacy notice and with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (POPIA). Information is used to run the transfer, keep the records the law requires and meet FICA and Deeds Office obligations. Complaints may be lodged with the Information Regulator (South Africa) at [email protected].

Communications and notices

Notices about these terms or about a matter go to the contact details the client has given us. Electronic communications such as e-mail and WhatsApp are used for convenience and, under ECTA, a data message is received when it enters the addressee's system. Tell vindarop if you prefer another channel or have security concerns — bank details are never changed by e-mail, and any message that appears to change payment details must be confirmed telephonically on +27 11 447 3082 before you pay.

Changes to terms

vindarop may update these Terms of Service. Changes will be posted on vindarop.site with an updated effective date. Continued use of services after posting indicates acceptance of the revised terms.

Applicable law

These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa, and the parties consent to the jurisdiction of the South African courts, including the Magistrates' Court in terms of section 45 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 32 of 1944 where that court has competence. Any further jurisdictional detail is set out in the mandate documents.

Dispute resolution

Raise any dispute about the site or the services with vindarop first, at [email protected]. From there the options are negotiation, mediation or the courts. A consumer complaint may also go to the National Consumer Commission under the CPA; a complaint about an attorney's conduct goes to the Legal Practice Council; and a dispute inside a sectional title scheme — levies, conduct rules, the reserve fund or a body corporate decision — is referred to the Community Schemes Ombud Service (CSOS), which is the cheaper route and is designed for exactly that.