Woman, 73, 'swindled' out of house by property rescue company

A 73-year-old wheelchairbound woman is taking on a Cape Town debt rescue company in court, accusing them of trying to swindle her out of her home which she believed she had only put up as surety to cover a loan her son had taken out with them.

Engela Lambrecht outside the house she claims she unwittingly sold.

She now faces eviction from the Bellville home her father had built.

In papers filed at court Engela Lambrechts, of Bellville, claims that she entered into an agreement with a company, known as Property Rescue, and that she was given the impression that her home was being used as security while it helped her son out of debt.

However, Property Rescue actually facilitated the sale of the house to businessman John Morley, at a fraction of its value, she claims.

In return, her son received a portion of the proceeds of the sale while the balance represented the sum of the costs involved, including transfer costs, R35 000 upfront rental to continue living there (a deposit plus rental for nine months), insurance, municipal accounts and R40 000 compensation for extending her an offer to buy back the house. If she wished to exercise the buy back option, she would have to indicate this three months before her lease expired. Since she did not do so, Morley sold the house and is trying to have her evicted.

According to court papers, Property Rescue is alleged to have been involved in a number of similar transactions with other people and Morley has taken part in four previous agreements, via the company.

But, Lambrechts alleges in court papers that the directors of the company, brothers Dewaldt and Gerhard Very, were in cahoots with Morley.

Morley and the Vreys have denied the allegations and claim that Lambrechts was fully aware of the sale.

They claim that the agreement was specifically designed so that she would receive part of the proceeds to help her son, continue to live there for a monthly rental fee and have the option of buying the house back once the lease had ended for less than the market value.

However, in an affidavit, Lambrechts said that after her son, Van Niekerk Lambrechts, lost his job in 2009 and became trapped in debt, he responded to a Property Rescue advertisement in a local newspaper.

Lambrechts said she was not privy to discussions between Dewald Vrey and her son. Once she agreed to put up the house as security, he arranged a meeting with Property Rescue at the offices of law firm C&A Friedlander.

On December 10, 2009, she and her son were in their car in the parking area of the law firm and Gerhard Vrey arrived and handed her documents.

She told him she had not read it but he assured her that "everything is in order".

She signed the documents, without reading them.

Then, she started receiving letters from law firm C&A Friedlander that an application was being lodged to have her evicted from the house.

She sought legal advice and was told that that the house had been sold to Morley for R310 500. Her son received R178 000 and the balance totalled the additional costs she had to pay Morley.

In January last year, shortly after the buy-back option expired, Lambrechts' son wrote to Morley and said his grandfather had built the house.

"Due to economic situations we were forced to use the house as a guarantee to help us through," he wrote.

However, Morley sold the house for R780 000 last August.

Lambrechts wants the court to grant an order to stop the transfer of the property.

In an opposing affidavit Morley said that, even at "a cursory glance", Lambrechts would have been well aware that she was selling the property to Morley.

He has denied that he colluded with the Vreys and added that there was nothing sinister about the transaction. He said he had no obligation to inform Lambrechts that the transaction may be to her detriment. "The fact that she did nothing to protect her interests is not to be laid at my door," he said.

The case was expected to go to court today.

Cape Argus

Posted at 08:40AM Feb 24, 2012 by Editor in Market  |  Comments[8]