In 2017, attorneys and conveyancers need to be ever more cautious so as to not fall victim to people trying to exploit process and trying to gain illicit access to attorney trust account funds.
In an effort to protect you, our client, we will never accept instructions via telephone or e-mail to change any banking details for payments being made to you, and we may request that proof of banking details be furnished to us as well.
These steps, whilst perhaps inconvenient for clients, are designed to ensure that we always pay out trust funds to the correct people, thereby protecting you, our clients.
A court case which is currently ongoing, Lochner v Shaefer Incorporated and Others (3518/16) [2017] ZAECPEHC 4, revolves around conveyancers who paid out proceeds of a property sale to banking account details which were furnished to them in an e-mail seemingly originating from Lochner, the property seller. Needless to say that this e-mail did not originate from the seller, and the banking account details were not those of Lochner…
It is precisely these sort of cases which cause us to be extra cautious in how we deal with you, our clients, and to ensure that your conveyancing and other interactions with ourselves are not only professional and efficient, but also offer you the utmost safety and piece of mind.
Mc Naught and Company are as always, working hard to ensure that we become your attorney and conveyancer of choice.