Poor and unprofessional

 Ms Busisiwe S sold her property in May 2022.  The Purchaser could not get full bond approval and applied to the Department of Human Settlements for a subsidy (FLISP) to cover the shortfall.  Ms Busisiwe agreed, in writing, on 23 June 2022, that the Purchaser may apply for the FLISP subsidy from the Department, for the shortfall on the purchaser price as well as the transfer and bond costs.  The agreement expressly stipulates the following:  “7.  Enderstein Van der Merwe Inc is in no way associated with the FLISP subsidy.  FLISP is a government subsidy which the Purchaser/s applies for, and the Seller/s accepts at their own instance and risk”  “9.  The Seller/s will only receive the balance purchase price from Enderstein Van der Merwe Inc once they receive the monies from the Department of Human Settlement.  This payment may possibly only take place after registration and payment of the other proceeds”   “10.  Enderstein Van der Merwe Inc retains no liability for the non-payment or late payment of any FLISP monies by the Department of Human Settlements.”  By the time registration was to take place, Enderstein Van der Merwe Inc (“the Attorneys”) had still not received payment of the shortfall and costs and elected to wait for payment, before proceeding with registration.  Ms Busisiwe was however keen to have the transaction register as she urgently required the bulk of the funds, and agreed that the Attorneys may retain R10 000.00 of her proceeds towards attorneys’ disbursements, in case of late payment from the department.  The transaction therefore registered, with the balance purchase price and the attorneys’ costs still outstanding.  Ms Busisiwe agreed that the Attorneys may pay her the balance purchase price and the R10 000.00 at a later stage, i.e. after they received these funds from the department.   The Department of Human Settlements paid only the balance purchase price (and not the costs) into the Attorneys’ trust account in November 2022.  This amount was immediately paid to Ms Busisiwe.   To date, the Attorneys have still not received payment of the costs from the Department of Human Settlements, despite numerous requests.  It required a time-consuming investigation and fact checking process (approximately 6 months) before the Department of Human Settlements finally admitted that they never paid the costs to the Attorneys.  There is now a further verification process required (that the Purchaser is the new true owner) before they will make the final payment to the Attorneys.  Ms Busisiwe is aware of all of this.  She phones our offices every Monday for an update, and each time the situation is explained to her.  While the Attorneys have regard for her frustration, it does not change the facts, no matter how badly she demands a different outcome.  We are both at the mercy of the Department and we are doing our utmost to obtain payment.