Standard Bank Pre Legal Department
“A prior agreement must have been made to settle arrears in order to maintain payments. The reason why this is not disclosed in the documents is not addressed,” the judge said, noting that the bank official who made the affidavit must have been aware of these payments at that time, as they were reflected in the schedules. In the details of the claim, the bank detailed the amount of arrears and noted that the couple first violated the agreement in March 2019, and the bank official described attempts to contact them, including calling them eight times, sending four text messages and six emails. In August of last year, after they defaulted on their payments, the bank sent them the notice required under the National Credit Act, informing them that they had not paid the full monthly payments and asking them to pay all arrears, or the bank would take legal action, which it did. in September. The judge said the behavior of the lawyer and the bank manager was frowned upon and that she had prohibited the bank from recovering the cost of the claim from the couple, or the lawyers from charging fees in the case. The judge said she asked for an explanation and was told that the “discrepancy,” “an unfortunate oversight,” was due to payments made to the bank`s general ledger account, not the bond account. Standard Bank and its lawyers have been criticised by a High Court judge in Durban for taking shortcuts in a motion against a defaulting landlord. The bank sought a default judgment and an order to sell the house. Standard Bank Group Ltd. is a holding company offering banking and financial services. The firm provides transactional banking, savings, borrowing, lending, investment, insurance, risk management, asset management and advisory services.
It operates in the following business segments: Personal and Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, Core Banking and Other; Banking transactions, other banking interests and freedom. The Personal and Commercial Banking division provides banking and other financial services to private clients and small and medium-sized businesses. Corporate and Investment Banking provides corporate and investment banking services to governments, parastatals, large corporations, financial institutions and international counterparties. The company was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. However, the affidavits of the head of the bank contained no information on the reasons why these amounts had been paid. Judge Henriques said the bank official had stated in her affidavit that as of 23 November 2021, arrears were just over R93,000, monthly payments were just over R8,000 and the last time they were paid was on 7 May 2020, and then only about R6,200. The lawsuit was brought by Standard Bank against a couple who had registered a bond with the bank on a property in Newlands East. The judge said that when the case came before her in February this year, she raised certain issues – including the fact that the bank`s claims were not supported by the attached annexes showing that the couple had actually paid R10,000 as bail later in May. There were also other previous payments of R10,000. “Given the seriousness of this trial and the fact that the accused will lose their primary residence, one would expect an affidavit promoter to disclose all the circumstances and disclose them accurately. To say that it was a divergence. may well amount to perjury.
Judge Henriques said the lawyers who drafted the application were also to blame. They would have had the relevant documents and should have checked them. They were either negligent or negligent, she said. Commitment to | Service Teamwork| Partnerships | Creativity They too received the default judgment request by placing it in their mailbox. She also noted that the request was not served on the couple personally. Standard Bank spokesman Ross Linstrom said: “Standard Bank has taken note of the decision and is reviewing the matter.” “These claims are rarely rejected by debtors. A chair must be able to rely on what is contained in the affidavit. “This is becoming common practice and, in most cases, judges meet these motions on the list of uncontested motions. This gives the impression that these applications are prepared by an amanuensis (writer) and copied and pasted from previous applications.
No one checks them properly. At Bham & Dahya, we are guided by your vision and mission statement. With over 28 years of experience in corporate debt collection and litigation, we ensure that our solutions are tailored to your needs. But Justice Jacqui Henriques rejected the request, saying she was showing signs of “copy and paste” and ordered that a copy of her judgment and all application materials be sent to both the Legal Practice Council and the Ombudsman for Banking Services.