QLD Chasing payment after QCAT

Discussion in 'Property Management' started by Coen, 12th Dec, 2021.

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  1. Coen

    Coen Well-Known Member

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    We took our tenants to tribunal and won. They were given 4 weeks to pay up, but haven't. Next step seems to be lodging application with the court to get tenants to pay. Can anyone share their experience of this. Will we ever see the money?? Is it a long process?
     
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  2. Greedo

    Greedo Well-Known Member

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    I got to that stage as well and was trying to find the right bailiff to serve the summons. I wasnt in a rush at the time so it didn’t get to that point. What got me payment was the tenant wanted to rent elsewhere however my PM had listed him in the “black book” register which stopped anyone letting to him. Cheeky sod still tried to negotiate the amount despite being desperate for us to remove him from the list. Ultimately paid in full!
     
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  3. Michael Mitchell

    Michael Mitchell Well-Known Member

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  4. thatbum

    thatbum Well-Known Member

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    If you're asking the question, then the likely short answer is "probably not".

    The main factors are whether the debtor has any assets or income, and then whether you can reliably find them.

    Debt collection and enforcement are their own area of law really, with its own complexities and processes.
     
  5. Stoffo

    Stoffo Well-Known Member

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    It's a very disappointing process !
    You can often spend even more going to qcat/ncat/vcat or wherever to recover losses and get awarded compensation/payment only to not be paid, then spend more time and money to still possibly not get anything :(

    It's no wonder many landlords just put the loss down to the "cost of doing business"o_O

    I can't understand WHY when a judgement is made in your favor that if the defendant (s) can't pay on the day prior to leaving the court they have to agree to/or the court garnishes their wages/Centerlink at a reasonable rate until the debt is paid ;)

    In fact there should be a Govco fund that means you get paid today and the defendant pays back Govco (when you look at how much stamp duty all the states and territories collect each week for doing "stuff all" this could easily be funded :cool:).
    Imagine defaulting on that agreement, Govco will just take it from your Centerlink or cancel your driver's license, at worst your tax return will disappear :p
     
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  6. Truly Exotic

    Truly Exotic Well-Known Member

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    if you're tenants are on low income/centrelink
    id say its highly unlikely you'll get anything

    one part is finding them,
    second part is if they have any disposable income, centrelink payments id guess will never fall in that category
    many of these type of tenants, dont care about bad rental history, either they cant think that far ahead, theyre used to having bad credit or they will rent privately or know how to game the system

    you can pay a debt collector but despite what success rate they gloat about i think their chances are still very low (im happy to be proven wrong)
     
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  7. Sackie

    Sackie Well-Known Member

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    Yep. That's why I'm super selective when choosing tenants and when signs show up that they may be more trouble than they're worth, I don't renew and get new ones. May upset a tenant or two from time to time but then landlords get upseted too. Deal with it. Never bulletproof but it helps. Too many bleedin hearts out there advocating for tenants rights when landlords often get screwed over. Fortunately tenants generally do the right thing.
     
    Last edited: 20th Dec, 2021
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  8. Coen

    Coen Well-Known Member

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    They don't turn up to the hearing though, so you can't get anything on the day.

    Comments are saying the problem is finding them. Do we have to 'find them' to have an address for the next step (court order). I believe they bought a house so are no longer renting. Would be easy enough for govt bodies to locate them.
     
  9. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    Did they buy in their own names, was it in a trust or company? Is it a common surname? They're just the first hurdles.
     
  10. Truly Exotic

    Truly Exotic Well-Known Member

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    I have chased and been chased for debt before and I've only had one success overall and it was a tedious process,

    I too wish that we could live in Roman times where once a judgement was made, police/thugs would just garnish a huge chunk of their benefits/salary, or visit their house and just seize stuff
     
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  11. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

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    You have to locate them. You cannot serve documents or send the sheriff to seize assets until you have their address.
     
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