Legal Mondays
Voetstoots clause is a standard term inserted into property sale agreements. It says that the purchaser is buying the property as it stands so if a purchaser accepts terms in an agreement, they are accepting the property as is and renounces their right to claim against a seller if a defect is found.
However, if a seller conceals a defect or fails to disclose a known defect, he cannot hide behind the voetstoots clause and the purchaser can cancel the contract if a defect is so serious that he can prove that a reasonable man would not have bought the property had he known about the defect.
