QLD Body Corporate Fees

I purchased an investment property on the 20th of November 2020.
They have sent me an invoice for Body Corporate Fees saying I owe $5k in arrears from April 2020. I have notified them I didn't own the property until November but they are insisting I still owe the total amount - if this right? Any help is very appreciated,

 

This should be paid for during the purchase process by the owner and facilitated by your conveyancer

 

Contact your solicitor who handled the conveyance, adjustments and settlement.

The amount should be shown on your settlement statement.

 

As per @Poppy & @Scott No Mates
Any outstanding levy's are req'd to be paid prior to or at settlement or transfer doesn't happen.

So the outstandings up to the date of settlement should have been paid out from funds paid by you (with the remaining balance going to the vendor).

Most likely that the payment isn't showing in the financials yet, and the strata manager is just sending yet another notice to the current lot owner (you).

Wait a week or two and this should have been rectified

 

Hi, I'm a body corporate manager in Queensland. It sounds like the body corporate manager here is following correct procedure.

In Queensland, body corporate levy debts automatically transfer to the buyer, unless they are paid out at settlement. Most settlement transactions result in a bank cheque being mailed to the body corproate via the body corproate manager. That then gets sent to the cheque clearing house... often the payment comes in up to 2-3 weeks after the settlement.

The other option which is fairly common is instead of the levies being paid by the seller at settlement, you receive a credit in the calculations which is equivalent to the debt. Then you pay the full $5K levy yourself, but you have already been credited that amount in the settlement calculations. So long story short this should be something for your conveyancer or solicitor to guide you on.

Matt

 

On the settlement sheet there are adjustments dor rates, water, sewer charges and strata levies and even unpaid land tax etc. . Its possible the vendor paid the arrears as a settlement adjustment which means you paid $5K less for the property. This means you need to discharge that liability. Normally at settlement that amount is taken from proceeds and paid to discharge that debt rather than leaving you with the debt. Discuss with your solicitor / conveyancer. It may have been paid at settlement and hasnt yet been credited ? Ask them.