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Hello all,
My brother, who has a physical and intellectual disability and suffers from mental health issues as well as not being able to read and write has fallen behind on his strata fee on the property he owns and lives in. The original debt was $3,400.00 in August 2024. He has made regular $450.00 fortnightly payments bring the debt down to $1,208.00 as of this week. The strata management company All Strata has now pushed the outstanding balance on to a Debt Collection Agency. All Strata are aware of my brothers difficulties in life. They have not provided any letters or communications regarding sending his outstanding balance to collections. They have been charging him extra fees, interest etc. I am his guardian and All Strata know this and have this morning emailed me a confirmation email that the Collection Agency has taken over his outstanding balance. It has escalated very very quickly.
What can I do? What are his rights?
Thanks
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Ideally, there would have been written agreement to a payment plan, which, if adhered to, would avoid any penalties aside from interest on the remaining debt at any particular time. Given the circumstances (knowledge of the owner’s disability and their regular payments), it seems unreasonable to have proceeded to debt collection rather than treating the owner like someone with an agreed payment plan.
I would try bypassing the strata manager and talk to the committee. I would also write to explain why the additional fees and debt collection costs should be waived.
If your brother is in NSW, they can only charge reasonable costs of recovery. Someone should point out to the strata committee that a trip to the Tribunal could see all the fees etc. overthown because they weren’ reasonable in the circumstances.
Contact Marrickville Legal Centre (MLC.org.au) who are (partially) funded by the state government to provide support to vulnerable people in strata across NSW.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
The outstanding debt is $1,208
The debtor (brother) is paying $450 per fortnight.
Brother can pay this off in three fortnights, including interest. Here is my calculation.
Assume 10% pa interest added to it. I will add 3 fortnight’s worth of interest at 10% pa (but this is really an OVERestimation). With each payment of $450, the outstanding interest should REDUCE.
Interest for three fortnights = $1,208 * 0.10 / 365.25 * (3 * 14) = $13.89
Total required repayments over 3 fortnights
= debt + interest
= $1,208 + $13.89
= $1,221
If brother continues to pay $450 over the next two fortnights, he only has to pay $321 on the third fortnight:
$450 + $450 + $321 = $1,221
Ask you strata committee why they cannot wait six weeks for the entire debt to be repaid?
Even if, in six weeks’ time, another levy could have been invoiced, your brother has shown a willingness to get on top of it. A debt collection agency is unnecessary. I fear that your brother is being bullied.
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