A judge slammed the practice by some bank banks of not obtaining a proper evaluation of a home before asking the courts to set a reserve price, prior to selling the property on auction.
So-called “drive-by” evaluations or a “digital evaluation” of homes to be sold at auction due to the owners falling in arrears with bond payments, will not be tolerated, an acting judge said.
In a strongly worded judgment against banks which at times do not bother to ensure a proper valuation of a property to be sold on execution before approaching a court, the Mpumalanga High Court made it clear that this amounts to systemic abuse of valuation processes.
The sharp eye of Acting Judge HF Fourie prevented two banks from obtaining an order to sell three properties at auction, as the properties were not properly evaluated by an expert valuator who did not adequately inspect each of these properties to establish their worth.
Thus, the judge said, the court cannot set a reserve price on these premises without knowing exactly what it is worth. The court in each of these cases removed it from the roll and said the banks must obtain a proper evaluation before returning to court.
