Latest news with #leaseagreement
News24
01-07-2025
- Business
- News24
Bushiri's former landlords demand R2.4 million over lease dispute
PPS Property Fund is pursuing fugitive pastor Shepherd Bushiri for R2.4 million in legal costs following a breach of lease agreement for his ECG church. Court action follows breach of lease agreement for his ECG church building. Bushiri fled to Malawi in 2020, violating bail conditions on criminal charges. Fugitive pastor Shepherd Bushiri faces fresh legal troubles as landlords of his controversial Enlightened Christian Gathering Church (ECG) building seek a writ of execution against his assets to recover R2.4 million in legal costs. PPS Property Fund has filed an application to compel Bushiri to pay the cost of the lawsuit following a breach of lease agreement dispute that has been unfolding before the Johannesburg High Court since May 2024. The dispute arose when the company initially approached the Master of the High Court in Johannesburg seeking a ruling to attach Bushiri's known property in Blue Hills after he could not pay more than R1 million when their lease agreement with him turned sour. This led to them obtaining a court order to wind up Bushiri's estate for breach of agreement, but the company is pursuing parallel actions for legal costs. Shepherd Bushiri shall be liable to pay the costs of the legal action without deduction or set-off and free of commission and bank costs as follows: consecutive monthly payments in the amount of no less than R2.4 million. Legal document In its initial application, the company stipulated that Bushiri failed to make payments and that this was a breach. 'Our endeavour to collect the undisputed indebtedness has a protracted history involving a variety of execution attempts, as well as diligent and persistent engagement with Shepherd Bushiri Ministries. As such, in an attempt to expedite resolution in the quest to avoid further proceedings or liquidation proceedings, all such attempts and engagement have proved to be of no avail,' reads the initial application. They further highlight that Bushiri was aware of the defaults that were communicated to him and of the process needed to remedy the situation. 'He is commercially insolvent insofar as he is unable to settle his debts to creditors as and when required to do so. The respondent is unable to make and conclude management decisions, as he is required to do. His conduct presents a total disregard for the interests of creditors and, particularly, the claim of the applicant as underlined in these proceedings. We have exhausted all reasonable attempts and efforts to engage him and provide him with a fair opportunity to settle his indebtedness towards us,' reads the document. The company also states that it seeks a winding-up of Bushiri's assets as a primary measure to recoup its losses. Bushiri and his wife, Mary, fled South Africa in 2020 while out on bail for numerous criminal charges. Despite being granted conditional release, they violated their bail terms and left the country under unclear circumstances. They were later located in Malawi, prompting South Africa to formally request their extradition.
CBC
13-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Leaseholder of Whitehorse's 'purple cabin' back in court, appealing order to vacate
The fate of a building in downtown Whitehorse known as the "purple cabin" is, once again, before the court. Lawyer Vincent Larochelle, who's representing the cabin's owner Len Tarka and tenant Eric DeLong, said during an appeal court hearing Wednesday that the terms of a decades-old contract were as ambiguous at the time of signing as they are now — a claim the territory's counsel hotly contests. In 2021, the Yukon government sued Tarka and DeLong after they refused to vacate the property. Tarka had been renting the property from the government for $100 per year for a term of "30 years, or the life of the Lessee" since Oct. 1, 1991. The government said Tarka's lease had expired, but Tarka's interpretation of the agreement was that the property was his to rent for life. In a decision last year, Supreme Court Justice Karen Wenckebach sided with the government, and ordered Tarka and DeLong to vacate by December 2024. Tarka and DeLong asked the court to throw out that decision. The appeal court granted a temporary stay of that vacancy order until a final decision on the appeal is made. During Wednesday's appeal hearing, Larochelle argued that Wenckebach ignored context, relying only on what's written into the 1991 contract. Compounding things, Larochelle said, is that Tarka was offered a life estate lease in early discussions with the government in the 1980s, and that's why Tarka was under the impression that the lease agreement was life-long. He says the government "created ambiguity." "What else could it possibly mean by 'life,'" Larochelle said. "Don't say life estate if you don't mean life." Larochelle argues that if the lease was only 30 years, Tarka may not have invested roughly $3,000 in improving the property before the 1991 contract was signed. Among other things, Larochelle said Tarka paid for land surveys. The Yukon government's lawyer Kimberly Sova disagreed with the appellants in her submissions on Wednesday. Sova said it was unlikely that Tarka was offered a life estate lease, because the territory's lands legislation caps leases at 30 years with room to extend. If the overseeing minister diverted from the rules, there would have been some acknowledgement of that, Sova said. Sova also argued that communication prior to the lease agreement should not be legally binding. Sova suggested that Tarka did not have any legal right to the property before signing that lease, since he was applying under the territory's squatter policy. She also said the early correspondence concerning a life estate lease were suggestions, not promises. She said policies change all the time after the government has taken feedback from residents. Three judges from B.C. heard the appeal. They reserved their decision.
ABC News
16-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Licola General Store change in management has locals worried
A single mum who says she spent her life savings reinvigorating an isolated caravan park and general store in Victoria's high country has been ordered to pack up and move out. A misunderstanding of the fine print in a lease agreement has left Leanne O'Donnelly with an unexpected end of lease at the Licola General Store. Licola, 254 kilometres east of Melbourne, is unique in that most of the town is owned and managed by the Lions Clubs of Victoria and New South Wales. While it is only home to a handful of residents, Licola's mountainous and bush surrounds are a popular drawcard for hikers, four-wheel drivers and motorcyclists keen on outdoor adventures. The Licola Wilderness Village board says the town's caravan park and store will stay under new management. Ms O'Donnelly said she was shocked when she was handed a 12-month notice to vacate in January and ordered to clear the had moved her family to Licola in 2022 and pictured their future there. She said she had since updated cabins and formed bonds in the community. "I sold my house, moved my children here to do this," she said. Ms O'Donnell thought she had signed a three-term lease, giving her a 12-year tenure. But she and her lawyer misunderstood a section in the fine print, stipulating that the board could refuse to renew her lease after just one four-year term. She said she had been told to remove everything including signage which had been in place for more than 50 years. "Just a lot of disbelief, a lot of sadness," Ms O'Donnell said. The Lions Club bought land and the facilities in Licola in 1969 for $20,000 and established a camping village opposite the shop, for disadvantaged students. The Licola Wilderness Village board also manages the lease for the general store and caravan park. In a statement, the board said the store would not close but would be operated directly by the Lions Club. "We want to be absolutely clear, the general store and caravan park are not closing," a spokesperson said. "While our Lions Clubs are proud to fund and support the camps, we cannot continue to subsidise the shop and caravan park, which have been operating at a financial loss to Licola," the spokesperson said. Ms O'Donnell said the store became a critical hub for residents and authorities during bushfires and floods. She said she never left motorbike riders stranded. "We have them rolling in here at nine o'clock at night, and we'll come out, open up the bowsers, do the fuel, put them up in accommodation if they need it," she said. "Over the summer period it was so awesome to see the locals come together and sit in a space where they could have a beer together and have a chat," Ms O'Donnell said. "They'd have some dinner, have a snack, and then go back to their farms." Ms O'Donnell said she was angry and frustrated by a lack of communication from the board. "If my business is costing a lot of money, why don't they just put the rent up," she said. "I did ask them that, and they weren't even interested in discussing it. "I would love to come to some sort of negotiation with them." Licola resident Ralph Barraclough said the store had never been in a better condition. "The whole community absolutely adores the place," Ms Barraclough said. He and other locals protested outside the Lions Club convention in Traralgon earlier this month. Caravaners Locky and Cindy Byrnes have been visiting the Licola Caravan Park for the past 25 years. "We come here all the time with the rest of our family," Mr Byrne said. "Our kids have been coming here since they were babies." The couple contacted the board about the caravan park's future, but were told there was no information available.
