Any ideas or precedents about taking company directors of companies in administration to VCAT under s.18 of the Australian Consumer Law and S52 TPA (misleading or deceptive conduct)?
The situation is that the company was collecting rent on behalf of owner/investors of residential properties that the companies were supposed to be redeveloping over time. The company directors advised that they had a temporary cash flow issue due to a hold-up in settlement of a couple of properties and told owner/investors that their rent money would be paid shortly. The next thing was that no rent would be back-paid and that owners had to forego rent for 2 years at which time all the properties would be sold and the owners would be given a financial compensation for the lost rent. This wasn't negotiable.
They didn't declare that they were in deep financial problems or that all of their other companies were also in the same situation or that they were the directors of the companies employed to do the redevelopment of the properties. Next thing we knew we were told they had sold off their management rights for the properties to another entity without any disclosure to the owners and they were out of the picture. They had been collecting rent from the residents for all of this time and none of the owners ever saw any of it.
We believe they were deceptive and misleading. Any ideas?
The situation is that the company was collecting rent on behalf of owner/investors of residential properties that the companies were supposed to be redeveloping over time. The company directors advised that they had a temporary cash flow issue due to a hold-up in settlement of a couple of properties and told owner/investors that their rent money would be paid shortly. The next thing was that no rent would be back-paid and that owners had to forego rent for 2 years at which time all the properties would be sold and the owners would be given a financial compensation for the lost rent. This wasn't negotiable.
They didn't declare that they were in deep financial problems or that all of their other companies were also in the same situation or that they were the directors of the companies employed to do the redevelopment of the properties. Next thing we knew we were told they had sold off their management rights for the properties to another entity without any disclosure to the owners and they were out of the picture. They had been collecting rent from the residents for all of this time and none of the owners ever saw any of it.
We believe they were deceptive and misleading. Any ideas?
