Hertta-Maria Amutenja
A Rehoboth pensioner is in a legal battle with Bank Windhoek over the subdivision and sale of a portion of her property.
The dispute stems from a 2015 agreement in which the pensioner agreed to sell 1 000 square meters of her 1 457-square-meter plot to Neal John Rittmann for N$180 000.
Anna-Maria de Klerk, the pensioner, and Rittmann signed the sale agreement on 28 January 2015.
Rittmann subsequently approached Bank Windhoek for a mortgage loan, which was approved and registered on 24 April 2015, followed by a second bond on 2 October 2015.
According to documents delivered by the deputy sheriff of the court, Bank Windhoek also paid the deposit for the subdivision of the erf.
Despite these arrangements, the subdivision of the erf was never finalised.
“The Deeds Office, Rehoboth, confirms Erf 223F has still not been subdivided, stated the bank’s legal representatives, Dr. Weder, Kauta & Hoveka Inc.( WKH),” reads the letter dated 15 August.
The pensioner’s daughter, Annely de Klerk, claims the delay is due to unresolved issues, including an unpaid water bill of over N$20 000 and the absence of a boundary wall to separate the sold portion from the remainder of the plot.
“My mother allowed the man (Rittmann) to build his house there and also use our water, as they did not have water available to build the house. Now the water bill is standing over N$20 000 that they should have paid for,” said de Klerk’s daughter.
She also noted that the sale price was lower than the plot’s value because her mother urgently needed funds to build a house to replace her shack.
The pensioner and her daughter allege that they only agreed to sell 1 000 square meters of the plot, but now the bank intends to take the entire erf due to Rittmann’s failure to repay the loan.
Bank Windhoek obtained a default judgment against Rittmann on 11 May 2017 and a Rule 108 order on 24 October 2017, declaring the erf executable.
The pensioner’s daughter also claims that the family met with the bank’s lawyers in Windhoek two years ago, during which they confirmed the rezoning of the land and insisted on selling the plot to pay off the outstanding debts.
However, the pensioner refused to sign any documents until the water bill was settled and the boundary wall was constructed.
“We never signed anything at the deeds office for the land either. All my mother signed was the agreement that he would buy 1 000 square meters from her,” she said.
In their letter, the bank’s lawyers demanded that the pensioner and Rittmann sign the subdivision documents before 12:00 on 29 August 2024.
“Should you fail to comply with the above, we have instructions to approach the court to empower the deputy sheriff to sign all the requisite documents,” the letter warns.
A legal expert questioned why the pensioner has to sign documents for the bank’s negligence.
Attempts to get comments from WKH’s Tshuka Luvindao were unsuccessful at the time of publication.
