Levy Clearance Certificates in Zimbabwe

If one is considering selling a unit in a Sectional Title in Zimbabwe there is a general requirement in the Homeowners Association Constitution for the member intending to dispose of the unit to obtain a Levy Clearance Certificate.

A Levy Clearance Certificate in Zimbabwe is essentially an official document issued by the Home Owners’ Association (HOA) which certifies that all levies and contributions have been paid in full and that the charges are up to date until the end of the month in which a transfer is expected to be carried out. Without a Levy Clearance Certificate in Zimbabwe, transfer of an immovable property within a sectional title can be refused. The transferring legal practitioner, also known as a Conveyancer would generally require that he or she be furnished with a Levy Clearance Certificate from the HOA so as to transfer a property held under sectional title.

In Body Corporate of Marsh Rose v Steinmuller & Others 2024 (2) 270 (SCA) at para 29 it was held that:

“To give transfer, the sheriff must obtain a conveyancer’s certificate that all monies due to the body corporate have been paid. The body corporate would, as a matter of law, remain entitled to refuse to provide the certificate until the conditions of the embargo are met. There could be no suggestion that it was acting unreasonably or unlawfully. The only question that could then arise, is whether the conditions of sale stipulated by Standard Bank and published prior to the sale in execution binds the body corporate. That was not, however, what this case was about. The effect is that whatever dispute there may notionally be regarding what is due to the body corporate, it is not a dispute to which Mr Steinmuller is a party. He has no legal interest in that dispute.”

Resultantly, the purpose of a Levy Clearance Certificate in Zimbabwe is to ensure that monies due to the HOA are paid before the property is transferred to a new owner, or that provision has been made to the satisfaction of the HOA for payment thereof. see Willow Waters Homeowners Association (Pty) Ltd v Koka N.O. & Others 2015 (5) SA 304 (SCA).