The daughter of a US cabinet member is embroiled in a row with the owner of a R5-million house she was renting in Johannesburg.
Jessica Ross, the daughter of billionaire US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross — an ally of President Donald Trump — is accused of owing R60,000, or two months' rent, for the double-storey home in Parkview.
Landlord Dominikus Heil, a lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand Business School, also claims that when Ross vacated the property, she took the state-of-the-art alarm system worth R40,000.
But Ross has hit back through her lawyers, branding Heil a liar. She has produced receipts that apparently show she installed the alarm system at her own cost, giving her a right to keep it.She also contends she paid Heil three months' deposit when she moved in and he should deduct the disputed rent from this.
Heil said Ross first rented the property in November 2014. He claims she vacated it in January after he terminated her lease for failure to pay rent.
"When I said she needs to pay rent, she had her lawyer send me nasty letters ... bullying me, basically ... saying she has no obligation to pay," said Heil.
In an e-mail to Ross, Heil demanded that she return the alarm system, settle all outstanding rentals and pay an additional amount of just over R39,000 in municipal rates and taxes.
"You have already received calculations of the outstanding rates and taxes, as well as the latest bill for consumption in January," Heil said in the e-mail.
"We now have quotations for security system reinstatement that will be for you to settle upfront. As you are aware, the security system can only be fully functional as soon as you have paid for the reinstatement of the security apparatus.
"Due to your removal of the security system, you have not only impaired our ability to protect the property appropriately, you have also infringed on our prospects to rent out our property in a manner that would allow us to earn the income that would otherwise be due to us."
Ross referred the Sunday Times to her lawyer, Jeremy Clark, who said the allegations were false and that Heil should institute a civil claim for any damages he claims she caused.
"It should be clear that Dr Heil is attempting to use the threat of publication to pressurise our client to capitulate to his demands in circumstances where the appropriate remedy under a lease agreement is a civil action for damages," Clark wrote.He also produced receipts which he said proved she had installed the alarm system at her own cost.
Clark said a security company named DAC had charged his client R79,000 for installation of the security system.
He said despite Ross paying three months' rent on occupation, she was not happy with the condition of the house and Heil had failed to attend to her complaints.
"She informed Dr Heil that the remainder of the rental was to be taken from the substantial deposit which our client paid at the commencement of the lease," Clark wrote.
He denied Heil had terminated the lease, claiming Ross had given notice after she felt Heil was "exploiting" her when he increased her rent by 26% within a space of six months.
In his e-mail to Ross, Heil insisted that the deposit — paid by Ross's father — only covered two months."Needless to say, there are now no funds from the deposit left to cover the restoration of a number of issues where you left the property in a less than satisfactory condition," he said.
Heil said Ross had once expressed an interest in buying the property.
According to Forbes, Wilbur Ross has assets of at least $2-billion (about R27-billion) and has appeared on its list of the 400 richest Americans.
TRUMP MAN AND RUSSIANS
Three Democratic Party members of Congress have asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross violated federal insider trading laws.
The New York Times reported that Ross sold shares in Navigator Holdings three days after the New York Times contacted him about a report on his ties to the Russian-linked company, and five days before the report was published.
Navigator's share plummeted soon after the Times ran the report, netting Ross between $100,000 and $250,000 (between R1.4-million and R3.4-million)..