Does an expired lease automatically continue month-to-month?

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February 2020 NEWSLETTER

Does an Expired Lease Automatically Continue Month-to-Month? At What Rental?

What happens if your fixed-term lease expires without an extension agreement? Is there any lease in place at all? If so what terms and conditions apply? What rental is payable?

We discuss the answers to those questions with reference to the Rental Housing Act and to a recent High Court judgment in which a landlord, in claiming damages from an ex-tenant, relied on a verbal agreement to increase rental after expiry of a written lease.

We end off with some thoughts on what your lease should say about expiry, and with a strong warning to avoid verbal leases.

Employees: Your New Rights to Paternity and Parental Leave

The concept of "maternity leave" has been around in our law for a long time, and the journey towards extending the concept to employees other than mothers has been a long one, marked latterly by much delay and confusion over implementation of new legislation addressing the issue.

Last year in particular employers and employees were left scratching their heads over questions such as: When will fathers and same-sex partners be entitled to parental leave? What about adoptive parents and commissioning parents in a surrogacy agreement? Is there a right to paid leave, or just to unpaid leave? And if unpaid, what if anything can employees claim from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF)?

Now at long last we have the answers. Read on for the details...

Can You Sue a Bad Investment Advisor? It depends...

The last few years have been hard ones for many investors, and if you have lost money on a particularly bad investment or two you may be wondering whether you can recover your losses from your financial advisor.

Let’s investigate the answer to that by discussing three recent court cases – one where an investor successfully sued for R2.5m, and two where investors failed in claims for R11m and R5m respectively.

We’ll also talk about how the FAIS Ombud may be able to help you and we’ll end off with some pertinent advice for financial advisors themselves.

Report Your Traffic Accident with an Online Reporting Service

Traffic accidents, your fault or not, are traumatic affairs. Even minor dings come with their hassles – panel beaters, tow trucks, shock and recriminations, reams of paperwork, having to get a Crash Report Number for the insurers...

That last bit has always been a major added stress factor, requiring a trip to the local police station (unlikely to be a happy experience) and yet more paperwork.

No longer - life just got a little bit easier with the new online reporting service from NaTIS (the National Traffic Information System) on its website here. The submission of the report is legally binding and only applies to "minor damage crashes", not in cases of injury or death. Note the time limit – "All crashes must be reported within 24 hours or the next working day. (Non-Working days Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays)."

Get your lawyer's help urgently if it’s anything but a minor accident!

Your Website of the Month: Become a Client Whisperer

"It takes seven times more money, effort and time to get a new client than it does to keep an existing one"

We've all heard of "dog whisperers", "cat whisperers", "horse whisperers", even "elephant whisperers" – but "client whisperers"? Is that even a thing?

It is, and with your clients being the lifeblood of your business, retaining them is fundamental to its profitability and success. For a take on how to do that - to your mutual benefit - read "The Client Whisperer" on the CleanFax website.

The article specifically addresses carpet cleaning businesses but the principles it espouses, and the advice it gives, are universal. They apply to every type of business you can think of.

So protect your client base – become a client whisperer!

Disclaimer

The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact us for professional, detailed and appropriate advice.

A Client Connection Service by DotNews