Council moves to sell 21 properties with owners more than three years in rates arrears
Some property owners facing this situation in the past have only managed to clear the debt on day of the auction.
Legal action to sell 21 Rockhampton Region properties owing more than $430,000 in outstanding council rates and charges begins this week.
Councillors made the decision to start the six-month process towards auctioning the properties at today’s council meeting.
Under the provisions of local government regulations, councils have the authority to
recover arrears through a land sale process where the amounts have been
overdue for three or more years.
In her report on the matter, a council officer said generally speaking most property owners in this situation clear their debt before auction, however some leave it very late, even to the day of the sale.
She said earlier this year, of the 43 properties identified for legal action in January, only two went to auction mid year following the six-month process.
She said property owners facing this legal action often approached banks and their superannuation funds in a bid to borrow or raise the funds required to pay off arrears.
The entire debt has to be cleared to avoid the auction.
The officer said 24 properties had been on the current auction list, but three had been removed in recent days following negotiations with council staff.
“There are a number of way we work with them (to pay down arrears),” she said.
