Flat owners hit as strata debts soar

"A call by debt collection agencies for reforms to the cost-recovery process for bodies corporate comes as apartment owners at a Brisbane building are locked in a legal fight with a resident, who had racked up a debt of more than $50,000 since 2004."

"In the Brisbane case, one of the owners in the 51-unit 1970s building on Leichhardt Street said that since 2004, the problem owner had not paid his strata fees or levies on time.

In two previous actions against him, one of the building's apartment owners, who did not want to be named for fear of retribution, said the problem owner ended up paying, with $20,000 of the $50,000 owed comprising legal fees.

"We have had two actions against him previously where he has paid on the steps of the court," they said.

"Because he is an ongoing serial pest, we should have some entitlement to say you are no longer entitled to be here."

The Australian