Written by David Iannuzzi in October, 2007

There is not a weekend paper gone by over the last few months which did not mention “Record Eviction Rates”, “Bankruptcies Increase”, “Mortgagee in Possessions” etc. I mean, some of these stats gave the top footy teams a run for their money.

Rather than re-hashing the statistics so many of us have read, we should note the following warning signs (and yes, most are dead obvious) leading to a battle affecting the hip pockets of all the parties concerned:

• An increase in phone calls requesting payments;

• Missing mortgage repayments;

• Using abnormal sources of funds to meet re-payments e.g. withdrawals as a Director from Company related funds (another topic in itself).

• Applying for new credit card and utilising credit to meet overdue payments;

• Working ridiculous hours of over-time;

• Ignoring demand and default notices;

• Visits from the Sheriff; and

• Bankruptcy Notices.

In most cases, waiting for a Sheriff or Legal Officer to deliver the unfortunate news may be too late and will cause undue emotional and financial stress. Add to this the necessary legal costs which in most cases must be incurred to obtain a result and you have all the right ingredients to create another statistic.

In recent times, we have come across all of the above warning signs resulting in a range of outcomes – the most devastating, dealing with a family or a ready to retire couple selling the Australian Dream.

If you or your Client have ticked off more than 3 of the above (in particular the last item), you many be adding to the stats so often publicised. However, do not despair, there are options available to minimise the exposure for all. We encourage and invite all queries concerning any issue raised within and will do all we can to lead you in the right direction.

Let us be the Referee and we will attend to evening up the stats!