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Interstate Judgment Registration

By Renee Smith a Solicitor of Matthews Folbigg, in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group

Imagine this situation. You obtain an order in your favour against the judgment debtor in relation to debts owing to you. You go to collect your monies and realise the judgment debtor has moved states! Can you still enforce the judgment and collect on your debt?

The answer is yes. There is a process which is regulated under the Service and Execution of Process Act 1992 (Cth) which creates the required national rules and procedures so that court decisions can be registered and enforced in any state of Australia. [...]  READ MORE →

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Out of Time (“Missed it, …. by THAT much”)!

By Bonnie McMahon a Solicitor of Matthews Folbigg, in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group.

Recent amendments to the Corporations Act 2001 (“the Act”), introduced by the Insolvency Law Reform Act 2016, now require registered liquidators to renew their registration with ASIC every 3 years: see s 20-75 of Schedule 2 of the Act (“Schedule 2”).

Under the transitional provisions, liquidators who were registered before 1 March 2017 remain registered until the first anniversary date of their existing registrations occurs: see section 1555 of the Act. For example, if a liquidator was registered on 10 November 2001, the date upon which the liquidator’s transitional registration will expire is 10 November 2017. [...]  READ MORE →

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Foreign Worker Levy Law Change

Immigration law Changes – Update on Foreign Worker Levy

Background

The Australian Federal Budget included a new levy for employers sponsoring foreign workers. Consequently under the new skilled migration scheme, employers will have to pay a levy of up to $5000 per worker.

What does this mean for Employers?

In essence, if the changes are passed in Parliament:

• the requirement for employers to spend 1-2% of payroll on training would be abolished
• employees on temporary work visas will require a levy of $1200 or $1800 per year
• employees on permanent skilled visas will require a one-off levy of $3000 or $5000
• the levy will contribute to a Skilling Australians Fund
• the Skilling Australians Fund will support up to 300,000 apprentices, trainees, pre-apprentices and higher level skilled Australians
Tips for Employers [...]  READ MORE →

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THE DEBT RECOVERY PROCESS

By Darrin Mitchell, Senior Associate at Matthews Folbigg in the Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group

Obtaining a judgment is a goal in the debt recovery process. Debt collection is not easy and the Court Rules make provision for collecting money but it’s not a one way street.

Judgments in New South Wales can generally be entered by a Court in three ways:

– by default;
– by consent; or
– by Order.

A default judgment is entered following the service of a Statement of Claim and non-compliance by the defendant. If after 28 days elapses and no payment is received and no Defence is filed, the creditor can then file at the Court an affidavit confirming the Claim was served and an application for judgment. Upon processing the application, if the Court accepts the Claim was served and that the debt remains unpaid, it will then enter judgment for the creditor as at a nominated date and amount. [...]  READ MORE →

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Planning Principle Update: Brothels

Recently, in Yao v Liverpool City Council (Yao) [2017] NSWLEC 1167 the Land and Environment Court’s planning principle in relation to brothels was updated from the principles enunciated in Martyn v Hornsby Shire Council (Martyn) [2004] NSWLEC 614.

The planning principles in Martyn had been in operation for 13 years, and, in some instances, had been overtaken by development controls provisions in individual council development control plans. 

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Property Law – State Budget

Property Law – Background

The NSW Government has announced the introduction of a comprehensive housing affordability package with measures designed to improve housing affordability for first home buyers.

These changes are part of many announced following changes to State taxes and grants as part of the 2017 State Budget

Changes

In essence, from 1 July 2017:

  • all stamp duty for first home buyers on existing and new homes up to $650,000 is abolished, while stamp duty discounts on properties up to the value of $800,000 will apply
  • stamp duty charged on lenders’ mortgage insurance is abolished (this is often required by banks to lend to first home buyers with limited deposits)
  • a $10,000 First Home Owners Grant will be available to builders of new properties worth up to $750,000 and to purchasers of new properties worth up to $600,000.

(Note that the $5,000 New Home Grant Scheme which was available to all other buyers, including investors, will be closed)

Other changes made to improve the affordability of houses include: [...]  READ MORE →

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Double Trouble – Lesson to a Solicitor

By Hayley Hitch, a Solicitor of Matthews Folbigg, in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group.

It is never a good sign when a judgment begins with the fateful words “This is a cautionary tale for solicitors who hold money on trust…”

In Laurens & Laurens (No. 2) [2017] FCCA 109, the wife’s solicitors, LL, initially acting solely on behalf of the wife in family law proceedings, consented to acting on behalf of both the husband and wife to sell real estate of the marriage, in accordance with orders made in the family law proceedings. [...]  READ MORE →

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Employment Law – Unfair Dismissal – ‘Crude’ Facebook Post

Employment Law – Background

The Fair Work Commission’s decision in Colby Somogyi v LED Technologies Pty Ltd, where the FWC awarded an employee compensation after his dismissal for crude Facebook posts, provides a warning to employers of the care that needs to be taken in addressing issues arising from employee use of social media.

Facts
• A company dismissed a sales representative after posting crude comments on Facebook suggesting that a woman gave sexual favours to her boss for a promotion
• The company argued that as the employee posted the comments during work hours and directed the comments at the business, one of its employees or customers, it was “clearly inappropriate”
• The company believed that the employee’s opinions did not align with its objectives of promoting a safe workplace free of harassment, victimisation or sexual abuse
• They claimed that the employee had breached its social media policy, which prohibits inappropriate social media use at work
• However, the employee argued that the dismissal was unfair because he was not given an adequate chance to respond. He was not informed that the Facebook post was the catalyst for his dismissal, as the company did not respond to his queries as to why he was dismissed
• The employee claimed that his posts were not directed at the company, and were actually in reference to his mother being bullied at her workplace
• The employee claimed he posted the comments during his break and that he was unaware of the company’s social media policy [...]  READ MORE →

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Designated for Assignment

By Stephen Mullette, Principal, Hayley Hitch and Bonnie McMahon, Solicitors of Matthews Folbigg, in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group

Rocky road, got my assignment

Rise above, ride my dreams

— The B-52s “Eyes Wide Open”, 2008

From 1 March 2017, insolvency practitioners will be participants in a brand new market created by the Insolvency Law Reform Act 2016 (Cth) (“ILRA”), and in particular section 100-5 of the Insolvency Practice Schedules (both Corporations and Bankruptcy Schedules). This section allows the sale of voidable transaction claims previously only able to be conducted by an insolvency practitioner. The creation of this brand new market, and the involvement of the insolvency practitioners in it, have far reaching implications well beyond any considered in the explanatory memorandum or any discussion surrounding the introduction of this reform. [...]  READ MORE →

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Sign of the Times – What has your customer signed?

By Stephen Mullette, Principal, Hayley Hitch and Bonnie McMahon, Solicitors of Matthews Folbigg, in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group.

Times are changing with the introduction and advancement of technology every day. This has led to innovations, even in the last bastion of luddites, in the legal industry. Court documents may now be solely filed online; Contracts for Sale of Land may now be signed and exchanged electronically; and electronic signatures may be placed on agreements and guarantees and considered enforceable, in certain circumstances. [...]  READ MORE →

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Property Law tested by Developer

Jobema Developments Pty Limited is the first developer to test the new property law introduced by the Conveyancing Amendment (Sunset Clauses) Act 2015, which requires vendors to either obtain the consent of purchasers before they can rescind an off-the-plan contract in reliance on a sunset clause in the contract, or to obtain the permission of the Supreme Court to do so.

Facts:

In this case, Jobema, the defendant, purchased a development site from Xycom, who had exchanged a number of off-the-plan contracts with a sunset date for the registration of the strata plan of 31 December 2015. As part of the purchase, Jobema would assume Xycom’s obligations under the exchanged off-the-plan contracts, one of which was with Mr Wu. [...]  READ MORE →