Debt disputes
The Office of the Commissioner for Body Corporate and Community Management can help you resolve most body corporate disputes.
However, we cannot resolve debt disputes and complex disputes.
Definition of debt dispute
The Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 (the Act) defines a debt dispute as a dispute a body corporate starts against an owner to recover a debt under the Act.
Debts a body corporate can claim from an owner under the Act include:
- penalties for late payment of body corporate levies (or fees)
- unpaid body corporate levies
- reasonable costs for recovering unpaid body corporate levies
- costs a body corporate incurs to
- repair damage caused by an owner or tenant
- carry out work an owner should have carried out, but didn’t
- agreed charges for the body corporate to supply services
- amounts an owner must pay under an exclusive use by-law.
Resolving debt disputes
A debt dispute may be resolved through:
- the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT)
- a court of competent jurisdiction (that is, a court with legal authority—usually decided by the debt amount).
An adjudicator from our office cannot consider a dispute about a debt.
You may wish to get independent legal advice about these types of disputes. We cannot give you legal advice.
- Australian College of Strata Lawyers
- Resolution Institute
- Queensland Bar Association
- Queensland Law Society
Attempting conciliation
A conciliation application can be lodged with our office about the dispute if the body corporate hasn’t started a debt recovery action (e.g. through QCAT). If the body corporate starts a debt recovery action before the conciliation is finalised, the conciliation process ends.
Disputes related to debt disputes
The Act also talks about something called a ‘related dispute’, which is when:
- the dispute deals with the same issue as a debt dispute
- there is already a case about the debt in QCAT or a court
- the Commissioner considers the debt dispute and the related dispute are connected in a way that makes it inappropriate for conciliation or adjudication.
You could apply for conciliation or adjudication for a dispute that is connected to a debt dispute. But if the Commissioner decides the dispute is a related dispute they may reject your application.
An adjudicator can also dismiss a related dispute.
The Act does not say what a related dispute could be about. The Commissioner or adjudicator is free to decide.