The US embassy in Tokyo, Japan, where Linda Howard kept a sex slave. Photo: Supplied.
THE sheriff has seized and sold almost $5m worth of Victorian homes in the past two years to settle unpaid building debts and pay reparations to victims of horrific crimes.
Freedom of Information documents reveal eight properties were forcibly sold as a result of court and Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal orders made against their owners.
In one instance a former US diplomat accused of keeping sex slaves for her Australian husband had a Docklands apartment auctioned off in a $501,000 forced sale ordered by a US court to help pay more than US$3m (AU$4.558m) in damages to one of the victims.
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But legal groups are growing worried the system could be used to force homeowners to sell up if they fall behind on their owners corporation fees.
The Victorian Supreme Court instructed Linda Howard’s property be sold to enforce the US court decision, after Howard challenged it.
She was previously found liable for sexually enslaving and trafficking two Ethiopian maids who worked for her and her late husband, Russell Howard, at US embassies in Yemen and Tokyo.
The sheriff’s office doesn’t just enforce outstanding traffic fines. It can also seize and sell a person’s interest in real estate if ordered to do so by a court or VCAT.
This Docklands apartment was formerly owned by a Linda Howard, who was ordered to sell it, in order to pay compensation to a maid whom she was found liable of sexually enslaving and trafficking.
The Victorian sheriff can confiscate and sell a person’s interest in property, such as a home, to pay a court-ordered civil debt – if a court or VCAT orders it
. Documents released to the Herald Sun under Freedom of Information laws reveal the sheriff has sold eight Victorian properties since March 2021, raising almost $5m to pay plaintiffs in different cases.
The Supreme Court can order a person’s interest in property be sold in order to pay a court-ordered civil debt. Photo: NCA NewsWire/Penny Stephens.
A September 2022 report from the International Labour Organisation, Walk Free and the International Organisation for Migration estimated 4.9 million women and girls were working in forced commercial sexual slavery around the world in 2021. Photo: Supplied.
In Howard’s Supreme Court case, Associate Justice Mark Derham said that in 2007, Ms Howard conspired with her husband to “entice the plaintiff” – who was named under the pseudonym “Sarah Roe”- into their employment as a live-in housekeeper.
“Once employed, Russell Howard subjected Roe to repeated rapes and continuous sexual abuse,” Associate Justice Derham said.
Howard knew about the abuse and told the housekeeper it was her job to “make Russell happy” because he “needs a friend”, the court heard.
Howard’s Australian visa was cancelled in 2017.
The sheriff also seized a house at 8 Healesville Rd, Truganina, after a court ordered the owner pay a builder more than $334,114 for failing to cough up for construction bills.
The sheriff can sell the debtor’s interest in real estate without a reserve but in this case, the highest bid at auction would usually be subject to court approval.
The sheriff also seized a house at 8 Healesville Rd, Truganina, after a court ordered the owner pay a builder more than $334,114 for failing to cough up for construction bills.
Both the Consumer Action Law Centre and Financial Counselling Victoria have expressed concern about owners corporations resorting to legal action to recover unpaid strata and body corp fees.
In November, the organisations wrote to the Department of Justice and Community Safety stating that Victorian financial counsellors “are seeing people struggling to pay their owners corporation levies, particularly as the cost-of-living rises”.
“In the absence of more supportive hardship practices in the industry, some owners corporations are resorting to legal action to recoup funds including forced bankruptcy through the Federal Court,” the letter read.
Consumer Action Law Centre chief executive Gerard Brody. Photo: Stuart McEvoy.
The Consumer Action Law Centre and Financial Counselling Victoria have expressed concern about owners corporations resorting to legal action to recover unpaid strata and body corp fees.
In November, the organisations wrote to the Department of Justice and Community Safety stating that Victorian financial counsellors “are seeing people struggling to pay their owners corporation levies, particularly as the cost-of-living rises”.
“In the absence of more supportive hardship practices in the industry, some owners corporations are resorting to legal action to recoup funds including forced bankruptcy through the Federal Court,” the letter read.
The sheriff can confiscate homes to sell in order to settle unpaid building invoices, if a court or VCAT orders it.
In the document, Consumer Action Law Centre chief executive Gerard Brody and Financial Counselling Victoria’s executive officer Sandy Ross asked the department to revisit a 2021 proposal to allow lot owners in financial hardship to pay outstanding fees in instalments under a payment plan. If the debtor wishes to prevent the sheriff selling their property, they can make arrangements to pay their court-ordered debt before an auction or apply to court for a stay or injunction.
HOW THE SHERIFF CAN TAKE YOUR HOME
The sheriff’s office calculates the value of an interest in property by deducting the payout amounts on any outstanding mortgages and encumbrances recorded by statutory bodies over the real estate from the valuation of the real estate obtained by the sheriff.
If the debtor wishes to prevent the sale of property, they can make arrangements to pay their debt at any time prior to the auction and can also apply to the court for a stay or an injunction.
The debtor can also ask the court for instalment orders or apply for bankruptcy themselves.
There is no certain dollar or benchmark that needs to be reached before the sheriff can sell a debtor’s interest in real estate.
Both the Consumer Action Law Centre and Financial Counselling Victoria have expressed concern about owners corporations resorting to legal action to recover unpaid strata and body corp fees. Photo: NCA NewsWire/David Swift.
If the real estate is passed in at auction, the creditor can seek an order from the court for the sheriff to sell the debtor’s interest in real estate without setting a reserve.
If this occurs, the sheriff can sell the debtor’s interest in real estate without a reserve but the highest bid at auction would usually be subject to court approval.
Alternatively, the creditor can request that the sheriff attempt to sell the debtor’s interest in real estate again. The above process will need to be followed, such as advertising and service, each time the sheriff puts the property up for sale.
The Warrant of Seizure and Sale authorises the sheriff to:
· demand payment of the warrant amount from the debtor, and
· if the debtor does not pay, to seize and sell their personal property (for example, their vehicle), and
· if no personal property is available for seizure and sale, sell the debtor’s interest in real estate.
About 49.6 million people were living in modern slavery in 2021, International Labour Organisation figures show. Photo: iStock.
Before selling the debtor’s interest in real estate, the sheriff must:
· seize and sell the debtor’s personal property first unless the debtor asks for their interest in real estate to be sold first
· advertise the sale by giving notice of the time and place of sale and the details of the property
· be satisfied that the creditor has served a copy of the warrant on the Registrar of Titles.
The creditor must serve the advertisement of sale to the debtor and provide the sheriff with a copy of the affidavit of service, or a court order dispensing with service or an order and affidavit of substituted service.
If the sheriff sells the debtor’s interest in real estate, the proceeds of sale from the sheriff’s auction are applied to:
· the sheriff’s costs of execution
· other warrants based on the order of priority (the date the sheriff received the warrant)
· the outstanding debt amounts
· the debtor, if there are excess funds.
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