Munyoro v founders building society & ors 1999 (1) ZLR 344 (H)

Mr Biti for the second respondent A house had been sold in execution because the debtor had defaulted in his obligations to make payments to a building society. The buyer purchased the house at the sale in execution. After the sale in execution, but just before the sale was confirmed , the debtor managed to settle his debt to the building society. The building society advised the sheriff to set aside the sale in execution. The sheriff responded to the building society that he could not cancel the sale as he had already accepted the applicants bid for the property. He advised the debtor to apply to court to have the sale cancelled.

The debtor then applied for a provisional order setting aside the sale. This order was granted and the Sheriff was ordered not to confirm the sale in execution pending the court hearing However the same day and before the provisional order was served on him — if indeed it was served at all — the sheriff confirmed the sale. In confirming the sale,the sheriff acted in terms of r 360 of the high court rules, which lays down that the sheriff must confirm the sale if he does not receive any objection within seven days of the sale. No objection had been received from the debtor within that period. For a long time after the provisional order was issued , the debtor did not apply for set down for hearing the matter of the confirmation of the provisional order. Eventually after some two years and nine months had elapsed from the date of the sale in execution the buyer of the house applied for the matter to be set down for hearing. During this time the debtor had continued to live in the house. The buyer, who had paid the full pricer the house , had not made any meaningful attempt to obtain transfer of the property and to obtain occupation of the property. This indicated he must have obtained the property as an investment.held, that in the present case there was no irregularity in the sale in execution and the house not been sold for an unreasonably low amount.

Held, that a judicial sale can not be lightly set aside based purely on the fact that the debtor had made a “bad bargain”