HOW SAFE IS YOUR MONEY WHEN YOU PURCHASE IMMOVABLE PROPERTY ?

How safe is your money

Many people who have fallen victim of property fraud are those who amongst other things have been ignorant to a principle behind the handling of money during a sale of immovable property. This principle dictate that before change of ownership the money belongs to the buyer and the property to the seller. A trust  account is therefore, set up in order to satisfy this need of this principle because when you make a payment your money must be deposited into this trust account whilst yourself and the buyer effects a change of ownership in your favour.

 At this juncture some conclusions relating to the trust account become apparent . The first is that there must be a neutral person handling the account and that person is none other than the estate agent administering the sale or a lawyer because these people are the ones required by their regulating Act to have a trust account which is regularly audited . Secondly, the use of a trust account is a security measure that is taken to protect the buyer. The transfer of money directly to a seller during the sale of immovable property bypassing the trust account is therefore, a serious breach of security protocol. People should remember that immovable property purchase is different from that of movable property were by possession of the asset is immediately available soon after purchase.

The use of a trust account has insured that the monies of many an investor has been safe. During the use of trust accounts a number of procedures are taken in order to ensure that its sanctity is preserved. For example when the money is supposed to be transferred to the seller the buyer must first give a written authorization empowering an estate agent to do so. In essence the money doesn’t  belong to the estate agent or lawyer but he or she holds it in trust on behalf of the contracting parties.