The Situation: We appeared on behalf of a plaintiff in Magistrates Court proceedings where the plaintiff, as landlord, filed their claim against their real estate agent for breach of the agreement between the agency and our client in relation to the rental of our client’s investment property.

The real estate agent ignored our client’s demand.

Our client then served their claim on the defendant, which was also ignored.

We obtained judgment by default against the defendant, and, as the defendant was a company, we then served the defendant with a Creditor’s Statutory Demand pursuant to the Corporations Act 2001 on behalf of our client, demanding that the judgment debt be paid within 21 days after service, or we would apply to the court to have the company wound up on the 22nd day.

This approach finally caused the defendant to respond. On the 21st day after service of the Demand, solicitors on behalf of the defendant wrote to us making an offer to settle the dispute at a sum substantially lower than the judgment amount, and advising that their client intended to file applications to set aside the Creditor’s Statutory Demand and the judgment, should our client not accept their offer by the next business day (which was the 22nd day following service).

We advised our client not to respond until the 22nd day. We then wrote to the defendant’s lawyers stating that their client’s purported applications were out of time and that their client was now deemed insolvent in accordance with the Corporations Act 2001. We also stated that our client would require payment, in full, by no later than close of business that day.

The Result: A win for our client. Our client received payment in full.

As every case is different, the cases reported here cannot be taken as an indication of a similar outcome being likely in your case, and these reports are not to be taken as legal advice about your particular situation.