The first distinction that must be drawn is between calendar and business days. Calendar days in most instances will include weekdays, weekends and public holidays. While Business days only include weekdays and exclude weekends and public holidays; in short all days that a normal South African would be at the office.
The second important point is what we call in the legal realm LIFO. The anagram LIFO stands for Last In, First Out. Therefore, when counting days, one would exclude the day that the notice is sent, in relation to letters of demand, and include the last day that the time period runs. Using the points mentioned above let’s count the days when a letter of demand would expire, taking into consideration the Consumer Protection Act:
The reason we hammer on this simple, yet fundamental aspect in all seminars is that, say now, you cancel a lease agreement on day 20 (Business days) or day 6 (Calendar days), you have created a major problem for yourself. You cannot proceed with the eviction application and must reinstate the lease agreement, send a new letter of demand and cancel the lease agreement again. You therefore can ultimately waste a month or two, when you don’t have the time in the first place. However, if you cancel the lease agreement any time after the period has elapsed, it is perfect!
Note: Please have a look at your lease agreement first. Some leases state that receipt of a document i.e. letter of demand, will only occur two (or any other number) of days after delivery by hand or in the case of post, 6 days after the post office has received the document. Always take this into consideration and if you are unsure, we have lovely, friendly staff that are more than happy to help you with this essential step. Happy Renting!
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