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Overdue payment – lawyer or Debt Collector?

By Jodie Rodrigues, solicitor at Matthews Folbigg in the Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group

So you’ve found an outstanding invoice. Sure, all invoices are valuable to a business but now you’re considering whether there is any commercial benefit to asking a lawyer to chase the debt. There are real advantages in using a lawyer rather than a debt collector to assist with collection of your debts. There are three main questions you should ask when considering which invoices to chase through legal proceedings: [...]  READ MORE →

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A DEBT COLLECTION AGENCY VERSUS A DEBT COLLECTION LAWYER

By Anica Cunanan, Solicitor at Matthews Folbigg in the Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group

The debt collection process is one which causes a lot of hesitation and frustration which can lead to a misunderstanding of what the key differences are between a debt collection agency and a debt collection lawyer.

Some creditors choose to handle such matters on their own whilst others choose to engage with a debt collection agency at first instance. That being said, engaging with a debt collection lawyer is a step which many avoid due to some misconceptions of how lawyers deal with the debt recovery process and by the same token, engaging a lawyer can seem daunting. [...]  READ MORE →

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Creditor’s Statutory Demand Threshold: What It Is and How to Use It

By Kim Nguyen, Solicitor of Matthews Folbigg Lawyers, in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group.

On 15 February 2021, the Treasury released a consultation paper “Increasing the Statutory Demand Threshold” seeking submissions on the appropriateness and impacts of permanently increasing the statutory demand threshold. The consultation period expired on 5 March 2021, however, further information can be found here.

What were the temporary changes?

In response to COVID-19, Federal Parliament introduced insolvency reforms to support small businesses in financial distress.  In March 2020, the Government passed the Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus Act 2020 (Cth) (Coronavirus Act) which temporarily: [...]  READ MORE →

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SME Debt Restructuring Legislation Passed

By Andrew Hack, Solicitor, and Stephen Mullette, Principal, of Matthews Folbigg Lawyers, in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group.

The Corporations Amendment (Corporate Insolvency Reforms) Bill 2020 has been passed in the Senate as of yesterday. The legislation will take effect from 1 January 2021.

The centrepiece of the legislation is the introduction of a new restructuring mechanism for SME’s, called ‘Debt Restructuring’. The process allows insolvent SME’s to put forward a proposal to creditors to resolve unsecured debts and allow the company to continue trading. The process is similar to Part IX debt agreements available to insolvent individuals under the bankruptcy legislation. [...]  READ MORE →

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It’s not your money: director refused access to company’s frozen funds

By Andrew Hack, Solicitor, and Stephen Mullette, Principal, of Matthews Folbigg Lawyers, in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group.

As an interim measure to recovering a debt, creditors may seek freezing orders against debtors where they feel there is a risk that the defendant will dissipate its assets so as to avoid orders. Litigants will usually be allowed limited access to frozen funds so as to fund the litigation they are involved in as well as pay for their reasonable living expenses. [...]  READ MORE →

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The handcuffs are on debt recovery, but for how long? What you can do in the meantime…

By Jeffrey Brown, Principal at Matthews Folbigg in the Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group

As part of the Federal Government’s response to the COVD-19 crisis, a handbrake has effectively been applied to court proceedings aimed at bankrupting individuals and placing companies into liquidation. This has been achieved by lengthening the time for debtors to respond to formal demands, from 21 days to 6 months, for both bankruptcy notices (in the case of individuals) and statutory demands (for payment of debts incurred by companies). As part of the same reforms, the minimum debt amount that can be the subject of bankruptcy or winding up proceedings has been increased to $20,000.00. [...]  READ MORE →

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Model Behaviour: the Australian version of America’s Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Scheme – Key Points

By Jodie Rodrigues, solicitor at Matthews Folbigg in the Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group

Part 1: The Key Points

On 24 September 2020, the latest instalment in Australia’s insolvency reforms was announced. These reforms have been branded “the most significant reforms to Australia’s insolvency framework in 30 years”.

And yet the plan, apparently, is to have these reforms in place in 3 months.

Under the Morrison government’s proposal, Australia would adopt a framework modeled on parts of Chapter 11 of America’s Bankruptcy Code. The proposed system would provide two alternative forms of insolvency administration for small businesses with liabilities of up to $1,000,000: [...]  READ MORE →

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Collecting Money? Avoid Going It Alone!

By Ellen Ferris, a Solicitor in Matthews Folbigg’s Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group.

Collecting money, especially from people you know, is always a delicate business.

Collecting money requires you to be persistent, and all too often becomes something that we let slip to the back of our mind to avoid the hassle, inconvenience, and sometimes even embarrassment of chasing valued customers for unpaid debts. Certain debts, even large ones, can be placed in the “too hard basket”, and never followed up on. Certain timelines for recovering debts can then expire, or more simply, debts can be forgotten or ignored. [...]  READ MORE →

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Insolvency Relief Extended until New Years!

By Hayley Hitch, an Associate of Matthews Folbigg Lawyers in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group

The Morrison Government earlier this year introduced the Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus Act 2020 (Cth) which came into effect on 25 March 2020 to provide relief to individuals and entities under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), Bankruptcy Act 1966 (Cth) and supporting legislation. These changes were due to expire on 25 September 2020, where the legislation was expected to revert back to its former position where, for example, statutory demands and bankruptcy notices required a 21 day response period. [...]  READ MORE →

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Debt Collection Sydney – Statutory Demands and the Expiration of the Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus Act 2020 amendments

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Coronavirus Economic Response Package Omnibus Act 2020 (Cth) was introduced, which resulted in various temporary changes to the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and Corporations Regulations 2001 (Cth) in respect of statutory demands.

These temporary changes include extending the time period for a company to respond to a statutory demand from 21 days to six months, and increasing the monetary threshold for a creditor to issue a statutory demand from $2,000 to $20,000. [...]  READ MORE →

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Recovering costs for debt collection services

Recovering costs for debt collection services

Fees and costs, including legal costs and costs for third party debt collection services can only be collected from a debtor if there is an agreement between the creditor and debtor providing for those costs to be payable to the creditor. Attempting to recover costs in the absence of a clause in the relevant agreement can be misleading deceptive and conduct in contravention of section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law (Schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)), section 154 of the National Credit Code (Schedule 1 of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth)) as well as Section 12DA of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) (“the ASIC Act”). [...]  READ MORE →

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Clearing your debtor ledger – Get in touch with your not too friendly Debt Collection Lawyer!

By Hayley Hitch, an Associate of Matthews Folbigg Lawyers in our Insolvency, Restructuring and Debt Recovery Group

Do you hate debt collection? Do you have a list of debt collection tasks that is getting longer every day? Have you been unable to accomplish the critical debt collection part of debt collection? If only debt collection were easier, and there was some way of moving those pesky debtors off the debt collection ledger! And don’t forget the cashflow side of debt collection – wouldn’t you like to have a bit extra cashflow back in your budget? [...]  READ MORE →