If your landlord has taken you to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and obtained an order requiring you to pay them a sum of money, the following information may be useful.

Before making any decisions, it is a good idea to consult a financial counsellor who will be able to assist you to work out if, and how much, you can afford to pay. For a referral to a financial counsellor in your area, phone the Financial and Consumer Rights Council on % (03) 9614 5433.

Paying
If you can afford to, you may want to pay the landlord the whole amount. If you decide to do this, make sure you get a receipt from the landlord.

If you cannot afford to pay the amount in full, but want to pay it off in regular smaller amounts, you can try and negotiate a suitable agreement with your landlord. You should put your offer in writing, telling the landlord how much you can afford to pay each time and when and how the payments will be made. If the landlord agrees to accept payment by installments, you should get their acceptance in writing. Make sure your offer is one that you can afford, to avoid missing payments.

If the landlord refuses to agree to payment by installments, you can still try making part-payments, although the landlord may refuse to accept them. Make sure you get receipts if the payments are accepted.

Installment Order
If your landlord agrees to an arrangement whereby you pay off the debt by installments, you can formalise the agreement by applying to the local Magistrates' Court for an Installment Order. This is useful as it stops the landlord from taking any further enforcement action against you, as long as you abide by the terms of the order. Even if the landlord doesn't agree to installment payments, you can still apply for an order. You can also apply at a later date to vary the amount of the installments if your circumstances change.

The court will not make an order, however, if the Registrar believes that you can't afford the proposed repayments or thinks that you can afford to pay the amount in a lump sum. You should also be aware that interest is payable on the outstanding amount, so you end up paying more money than if you paid the amount off all at once.

You should talk to the Registrar of your local Magistrates' Court (listed under the Justice Department in the phone book) for assistance with this process. You will need to take to the court a copy of the Tribunal order and details of your assets, income and expenses. The Registrar will help you fill out an Application for Installment Order and a Statement of Affairs, which details your financial circumstances. The Registrar may be able to make an order immediately, or may arrange for a hearing. If a hearing is arranged, you will be notified by mail of the time and place.

Not paying
If you cannot afford to pay the debt, or you decide not to pay, the landlord can take the following steps.
Oral examination
You can be issued with a summons to attend the Magistrates' Court with relevant documents to be questioned on oath about your financial position. The Registrar usually conducts the questioning. This process is used to obtain information about your financial position, so the landlord can decide the best way, if any, for them to enforce the debt.

Installment Order
The landlord can also try to obtain an Installment Order from the Magistrates' Court, which can be made against you if you have refused to pay the debt or refuse to agree to repayment by installments. However, the Court will not make the order if your only source of income is a pension or benefit.
Warrant to Seize Property

A Warrant to Seize Property is a document which allows the Sheriff to come to your home and take goods that can be sold to pay off the debt. The Sheriff will come to your home but you do not have to let them in and it is illegal for the Sheriff to force entry. This does not apply to garages, sheds or your yard and the Sheriff can enter any of those places to seize goods without your permission.

Note - it is an offence to assault the Sheriff or to rescue any goods seized under the warrant.

If the Sheriff does gain lawful access to your home, they can then seize goods. This is usually done by putting a red sticker on the things they intend to sell if you don't repay the debt. The Sheriff leaves a notice listing the things that have been 'seized' and informing you that you are not allowed to dispose of these goods without the written permission of the Sheriff.

The Sheriff cannot seize

• jointly owned goods
• goods on hire purchase or loan
• necessary clothes or necessary household items (eg tables, beds, chairs, fridge, television)
• goods belonging to someone else
• motor cars less than the value of $2500
• ordinary tools of trade, work equipment, professional instruments and reference books to the value of $2000

If any of the goods seized fall into these categories, you should say so at the time and, if necessary, write to the Sheriff stating which goods should not have been seized and why. Send a copy of this letter to the Registrar of the Magistrates' Court where the warrant was issued. If the goods belong to someone else, the owner of the goods should do the same. If the Sheriff does not withdraw the seizure, a court hearing will then be arranged to settle the matter.

You will usually be given some time to make a payment to the Sheriff before they return to take the seized goods for public auction. The Sheriff is allowed to forcibly re-enter your home to take the goods away for sale if they have been allowed in previously to seize the goods.

Attachment of earnings
If you are employed, the landlord can try and get a Magistrates' Court order that your employer deduct an amount from your wage each pay period to pay off the debt. You will receive an Attachment of Earnings summons, details of the hearing date, and a Judgement Debtors Statement of Financial Position form. You should talk to a financial counsellor before filling in this form.

You should attend the court hearing with evidence of your income (eg a wage slip) and expenses (eg rent receipts, bills) as well as your completed Statement of Financial Position. Before the hearing, you should work out the total weekly repayment you can afford, if anything, and have a written record of your income and all expenses. The court will only make an order if it believes you can live on the balance of your income. If you change your job, the landlord will have to go through the whole procedure again for an order against your new employer.

Note - the landlord can add most of the costs of enforcing a debt through these methods (as well as interest) to the amount you owe them.

For more information, contact the Tenants Union on % (03) 9416 2577.