What does a property & tenancy attorney cost in South Africa?

Property and tenancy work covers two very different kinds of bill. Dispute work, such as evictions, deposit fights and levy arguments, is charged by the hour or per step. Transfer work, such as conveyancing and bond registration, follows a recommended guideline scale tied to the value of the property. The ranges above are typical, exclude VAT and disbursements, and vary by city and by the seniority of the attorney.

What drives the price of a dispute

Whether it is opposed. This is the single biggest factor. An unopposed eviction is largely paperwork: cancel the lease, prepare the application, get the notice authorised by the court, serve it on the occupier and the municipality, and appear once. An opposed eviction brings answering papers, replying papers, postponements and often an advocate, and the fee can multiply several times over.

Which court. High Court work costs materially more than magistrate court work, mostly because of counsel fees and the drafting standard. Most residential evictions can be brought in the magistrate court.

How good your paperwork is. A landlord who arrives with a signed lease, a ledger of payments, dated breach letters and proof of delivery pays for far fewer hours than one who arrives with a verbal agreement and a memory of what was said.

Urgency. Urgent applications, such as getting electricity restored after a landlord cut it off, are drafted at speed and priced accordingly.

What each fee actually buys

It helps to know what sits inside the numbers in the table.

A letter of demand buys a short consultation, a read of the lease, and a one or two page letter on the firm's letterhead sent by email and registered post or by the sheriff. It does not buy a follow-up or a court case. Many firms quote it as a fixed fee.

An unopposed eviction buys the breach and cancellation letters if not already sent, the founding affidavit, the application to the court for the PIE notice, instructing the sheriff to serve on the occupier and the municipality, one appearance, and the order. The sheriff's fees for service and for carrying out the eviction, and any advocate's fee, sit on top.

An opposed eviction buys all of that plus a replying affidavit, heads of argument, at least one further appearance, and usually an advocate. Every postponement adds an appearance. An appeal is a separate matter with its own budget.

A conveyancing fee buys the drafting of the transfer documents, FICA, the transfer duty application, rates and levy clearance, liaison with the bank attorneys, lodgement and registration. Disbursements such as Deeds Office fees and searches are extra.

What drives the price of a transfer

Conveyancing fees follow a recommended guideline tariff that rises with the purchase price, so the fee on a R900 000 flat is a fraction of the fee on a R6 million house. Bond registration is charged separately by the bank appointed attorney, on a similar scale based on the bond amount.

Neither of those is the whole cost of buying. Transfer duty is a tax paid to SARS by the buyer above a threshold, and both the threshold and the brackets change each tax year in the Budget. Deeds Office registration fees are adjusted from time to time as well. For that reason we do not publish brackets here. Use the transfer costs calculator, which is updated each tax year, and ask the conveyancer for a written pro forma statement of account as soon as your offer is accepted.

Read What are transfer costs when buying a house? for what each line on that statement actually is.

Two worked examples

Names and figures are illustrative and sit inside the ranges above.

A landlord's unopposed eviction. Mr Naidoo owns a flat in Pietermaritzburg. His tenant is four months in arrears at R6 000 a month. He has a signed lease, bank statements and WhatsApp messages. His attorney quotes a fixed fee of R12 000 plus VAT for an unopposed magistrate's court eviction, and warns that sheriff fees of a few thousand rand for service and for the eviction itself are extra, as is an advocate if the tenant opposes. The tenant does not oppose. From the first breach letter to the sheriff attending takes three months. Mr Naidoo's total outlay is around R16 000 including VAT and the sheriff, and he obtains judgment for the R24 000 arrears in the same proceedings, which he may or may not recover depending on what the tenant has.

A tenant's deposit dispute. Ms Dlamini paid a R12 000 deposit on a Cape Town flat. The landlord refuses to refund it, citing "cleaning and repainting" with no invoices. An attorney would charge more than the deposit to fight it. Instead she sends her own letter of demand, waits seven days, and files a free complaint with the Western Cape Rental Housing Tribunal, attaching her move-in photographs. At mediation the landlord agrees to refund R11 000 plus interest within 14 days. Her cost is a morning off work.

Tenant costs and landlord costs side by side

What a tenant typically pays: nothing for a Rental Housing Tribunal complaint; nothing for the Small Claims Court; nothing for Legal Aid South Africa if you qualify on the means test; a letter of demand if you choose to use an attorney; an urgent application to restore electricity or access if Legal Aid cannot act in time, which is where private fees can arise.

What a landlord typically pays: a letter of demand; an unopposed or opposed eviction application; sheriff and advocate disbursements; a costs order against them if they used self-help and lost; the conveyancing and bond fees when buying an investment property. Landlords also have free routes: the Tribunal hears landlord complaints too, and the Small Claims Court takes arrear rent claims up to R30 000.

What is free

A large share of tenancy problems never needs a paid attorney.

• The Rental Housing Tribunal in your province hears landlord and tenant disputes at no cost. Deposits, repairs, unlawful lockouts, disconnected services and unfair rent increases all fall within its work. It usually mediates first, and its rulings are enforceable like a magistrate court order.
• The Community Schemes Ombud Service resolves sectional title and homeowners association disputes, including levies, for a small application fee rather than court costs.
• The Small Claims Court handles claims up to R30 000 for free, and lawyers are not allowed on either side. Deposit refunds and small damage claims fit here neatly.
• Legal Aid South Africa on 0800 110 110 assists people who qualify on a means test, and matters where someone may lose their home are the kind of case they take on. See /legal-aid.

Note what these forums cannot do. Only a court can grant an eviction order, so a landlord who needs a tenant removed will need an attorney.

Documents that cut the bill

Every hour an attorney spends reconstructing your history is an hour you pay for. Bring, in one folder and in date order:

• the signed lease and every addendum
• a payment ledger or bank statements showing what was paid and when
• every letter, email and WhatsApp about the dispute, printed or exported with dates
• inspection reports and dated photographs
• levy statements, budgets and AGM minutes for a scheme dispute
• the offer to purchase, the bank's grant letter and any costs statements for a transfer
• any court papers or Tribunal correspondence already received

A one-page timeline in your own words, with dates, is the single most useful thing you can hand over at a first consultation.

Questions to ask before you instruct

1. Is this a fixed fee or hourly, and what exactly does the fixed fee include?
2. What disbursements should I expect, and roughly how much?
3. Does the quote include VAT?
4. Who will do the work, and at what rate, if it is not you?
5. What is the estimate for the next stage only, and when will you tell me if it is likely to be exceeded?
6. Have you considered whether the Tribunal, CSOS or the Small Claims Court could deal with this for less?
7. How often will I get an invoice, and can I have a running statement on request?

Common cost mistakes

Litigating a deposit. Paying R5 000 in fees to recover a R10 000 deposit that the Tribunal would have recovered for free.

Self-help first, lawyer second. A landlord who changes the locks, loses a spoliation application, pays the tenant's costs, and then instructs an attorney to do the eviction properly has paid for two cases instead of one.

Opposing without a defence. A tenant who opposes an eviction with no real answer can end up with a costs order on top of the arrears. Get advice on whether the opposition has merit before filing.

Not paying transfer costs on time. The transfer stalls, occupational rent runs, and the conveyancer may charge for the extra correspondence.

How to avoid surprises

Get a written mandate. It should say the hourly rate, who does the work, what is included and how often you will be invoiced. Ask for an estimate for the next stage rather than the whole matter, because nobody can price an opposed matter at the start.

Ask about disbursements separately. Sheriff service fees, advocate fees, tracing agents, courier and printing, deeds searches and FICA verification are billed on top of the professional fee. On an eviction the sheriff and advocate can add several thousand rand.

Ask whether VAT applies. Most established firms are VAT vendors, and the quoted fee often excludes it. On a large conveyancing fee that difference is significant.

Consider a fixed fee. Letters of demand, lease reviews and unopposed applications are often quoted as a fixed fee. Ask.

Watch the costs order. If you win, the court may order the other side to pay costs, but that rarely covers your full bill and is only worth having if they can pay.

Do the cheap things first. A letter of demand settles a surprising number of disputes, and a Tribunal referral is free. Spend litigation money only once those have failed.

LawMatch is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. These figures are general guidance to help you budget and compare quotes.