Guarantee or Indemnity- does it matter which you have signed?
This is part of an occasional series of articles concerning personal guarantees. Typically, a company opens up an account with a supplier and the directors sign something to say that if the company does not pay then the directors will do so personally. Like so much in...
UPDATE: Unqualified electricians give themselves a shock!
The wheels of justice finally caught up with these two. Former pre-insolvency adviser Stephen O’Neill has been sentenced at Brisbane District Court to five years in prison with a non-parole period of 22 months, after pleading guilty to one charge of dealing in the...
Personal Guarantees- a true story
Below is a post reproduced with the kind permission of our good friend, and skilled adviser, Stuart Craig from 888x. I would like to share with you case study #7 which is a follow on from Transport Distress case study #1. This case study #7 relates to a supplier of...
New larger office @ L5 444 Queen St
Bad Debts Getting you Down?
Building Time
Our Legal Practice Director presented to the Institute of Public Accountants this week on the Queensland Building and Construction industry. What do you talk to accountants about? dates and numbers, of course. Bruce explained the current legislation that applies and...
Houses and Bankruptcy
An all too often scenario sees a couple owning a house as joint tenants when bankruptcy confronts one of them. The law is that a bankrupt's share in the house vests with the trustee in bankruptcy. In basic terms the bankrupt's share in the house no longer belongs to...
What’s Happened to the Subcontractor Charge?
Relax. Subcontractors can still become secured creditors and protect their hard earned. The Subcontractor Charges Act can now be found in chapter 4 of the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld) (“BIFA”). It is more or less the same process as...
4 Points about Interest
When someone wants to make a civil claim against someone the question of interest always arises. You cannot just pick your own rate of interest and add it to the claim. Essentially, you need a contract or law that gives you a reference point for claiming interest. 1....
Securing your money, Caveats, Postponing equities and Getting Paid
If you’re in the business of taking security against real property, you’ll be all too familiar with the process of registering mortgages or lodging caveats on the basis of a charging clause or an unregistered mortgage. You’ll probably also be aware that, all things...
RESPONDING TO A STATUTORY DEMAND- A MESSAGE WORTH REPEATING
Options: From the date you receive the statutory demand you have 21 days to respond to it by: a. Paying the debt; b. Reaching some resolution with the creditor; or c. Bringing an application to set aside the statutory demand. Preliminary steps: 1. You should firstly...
Settling your debts – formal arrangement or informal arrangement?
It’s commonplace in business to find yourself experiencing cash flow problems or dealing with debtors who are. Perhaps the tardiness of your debtors is preventing you from paying your own creditors on time? Whether you are the debtor or the creditor in scenario will...
Registered Offices- It is Your Responsibility
If you have a company you must also have a Registered Office. This is a physical address that is listed with ASIC that anyone who needs to serve documents on the company can rely upon. It cannot be a Post Office Box- which can immediately cause trouble for some. It is...
14 Indicators of Insolvency
The list comes straight out of ASIC v Plymin, Elliott & Harrison [2003] 21 ACLC 700 and has been quoted a further 29 times in subsequent cases and is the checklist that almost every liquidator goes off. 1. Continuing losses. 2. Liquidity ratios below 1. 3....
How to Lodge a Caveat
Where there is a dispute over property a caveat can be lodged to restrict other parties from dealing with the property. It is essential that the party registering the caveat have a direct interest in the property. Equally, the grounds claimed for lodging a caveat...
Accountants and Unpaid Fees and How to Avoid Getting Caught Short
Part and parcel of being advisers in insolvency matters is dealing with unpaid accountants. It is surprising the number of accountants who do not have properly formed engagement documents. Without a proper letter of engagement the accountant can be left as another...
Do you understand your own terms and conditions?
Whether you're selling products or services, your T&Cs, Conditions of Sale, Terms of Trade should clearly describe what you're doing and set expectations as to when you'll do it and on what terms. Over time, your product suite and service offerings are likely to...
Independence is Decisive in the Choice Between Liquidators
Where a voluntary administrator is appointed after a winding up application is filed and the matter is contested the Court will often be faced with a decision as to let the incumbent administrator continue as liquidator or appoint the creditor's preferred choice....
Business Debts Getting you Down?
Safe Harbour for you?
Time for your business to find a safe harbour? Get Solid Advice from real experts
Christmas Construction Crash Time
Every year for the last several years the Christmas period has seen a joyous time for many soured by the collapse of a major builder or two. Its a tale of woe that many of us in the insolvency space hear every year. Will this Christmas be any different? Is one of your...
Bad Debts Getting you Down?
PPS Registrations about to expire
A large number of registrations on the PPSR are for 7 years. It will soon be 7 years since the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) kicked in (doesn't time fly?) If the registrations are not renewed they lapse and you know what that means. January 2019 is the...
Solid Advice Sessions- Complimentary Presentations
Looking for a complimentary presentation for in-house education or a client event? We presently have a selection of presentations ready to go. Guiding the Director If you can’t generate $50,000 in fees of the back of this presentation- you must not have been there!...
Don’t Loan Money without Security
I tell my clients to think like a bank. If you have a client who is about to loan money to a loved one's business or even to their own company get some security in place. The Personal Property and Securities Act 2009 (Cth) makes it possible to become a secured...
Scorecards – 3rd Quarter 2018
The Top 5 Appointees in a number of categories are here.
Builders, Bankruptcy, and Informal Arrangements
A licensee may not be able to utilise the shelter of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 to restructure their affairs or have a new beginning in the way that others might. The reason for this is that the state government imposes heavy burdens on builders who suffer an insolvency...
Proper Cross-examination
In R v Scott (1856) Dears & Bell 47; 169 ER 909 the Court of Criminal Appeal resolved what might be seen from the earlier cases to be a vacillation in judicial approach. In that case, Scott, a bankrupt, was tried and convicted of mutilating one of his trade books....
Company in trouble- Need a Safe Harbour?
The Federal government has introduced a new set of laws to prevent directors from being prosecuted for insolvent trading so long as the 'safe harbour' provisions of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) are complied with. Here is a link to the sections starting at s588GA...
Liquidate or Deregister?
Deregistering an inactive or dormant company is a relatively simple and inexpensive exercise. Before deregistering a company it is very important to take the time to consider whether the company truly qualifies for deregistration. The ASIC form requires you to make...
PPSA – Section 64 Notices
So you have registered your security interest on the PPSR. Maybe you have even registered a PMSI. What happens if a financier serves you with a s64 Notice? The rules surrounding s 64 are complicated (surprise!) However, as a basic proposition provided the financier...
PPSA- Disputing Registrations
Under the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 (Cth) (PPSA) you may dispute a registration made over your property by another party if you believe the property described in the registration does not secure a debt or obligation owed by you to that party. When you...
Terms of Trade- 5 key points
Prevention is better than cure- your terms and conditions of trade are the cornerstone of all sales. Ignore them at your peril. To most people the thought of spending money for the preparation of an effective terms of trade document or credit application is not...
Owed Money? Get a Settlement Deed
Be it a customer, a business partner or a family member - being owed money can be stressful. Too often the money was supposed to be only out for a short time and nobody thought to do up a loan agreement. Calling in the debt and maintaining relations in these...
2018 Scorecards- 1st half of the year
It has been a busy first half to 2018. Will the second half of the year be even busier? The scorecard is here.
Labour Licensing Laws Kick in
If you or your clients are connected with labour hire activities in Queensland then you have only one day left to apply for a licence. From the 16th June if you use labour hire services you will need to be in the habit of checking to see if the provider is licensed to...
Shareholder Agreements
Because we act in a number of shareholder disputes we also get our fair share of instructions to write shareholder agreements. One of the most critical parts of any shareholder agreement is the method for valuing a partner's share when they exit. What suits? 1. A...
7 Considerations after a Creditor’s Statutory Demand Expires
Once a Creditor's Statutory Demand (also known as a s459E Notice or a Form 509H) has expired- that is, 21 days have passed, there are decisions for both parties to make. For creditors an expired 459E Notice is evidence of insolvency and for 3 months after expiration...
Insolvency Practitioners National Conference
Our Legal Practice Director, Bruce Pasetti has just returned from sunny Port Douglas where be presented the Case Law Update to a packed room of liquidators and lawyers. If you need someone who is up to date with the law concerning bankruptcy and liquidations then call...
Here are the Scorecards for the first quarter of 2018
Sourced from the ASIC notice services kindly supplied by a number of accounting firms we have collated the information in a table format. We have several years of info so might do a comparative in the future. The chart is here.
Queensland Introducing Labour Hire Licensing
From 16 April 2018 if you are a labour hire provider in Queensland you will have to comply. Even interstate or overseas organisations that provide labour hire services in Queensland will need to be licensed if they operate in Queensland. You have until 15 June 2018 to...
PPSA Cheat Sheet
PPSR-have you checked? Do you have all the relevant documents? You need the security agreement and the documents evidencing the original transaction (tax invoice, hire purchase agreement, et cetera). Does the grantor actually have an interest in the collateral. Do...