Free letter of demand for strata levies

Why does this letter give 30 days when the others give 7?

Because the law requires it. Section 86 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW) says an owners corporation must give a lot owner at least 21 days' notice before starting recovery action, and the accompanying regulation sets out what that notice has to contain. Thirty days is the safe, common practice, and it is what this tool uses — a demand giving seven days does not put you in a position to act at the end of it.

Levies also carry statutory interest. Under the same Act, an unpaid contribution bears simple interest at 10% per annum from the date it becomes due, unless the owners corporation has resolved not to charge it. That interest is recoverable along with the levy itself, and the letter should demand both.

The other thing s 86 expects is an offer to discuss a payment plan. The letter this tool builds includes one, at the owners corporation's discretion — it costs nothing to offer, and a lot owner who takes it up saves everyone a tribunal application.

Do you need a lawyer to send one?

Anyone can write to someone who owes them money, anywhere in Australia. Chasing a debt owed to you is acting on your own behalf, and that needs no licence.

Who signs it still matters. A demand from the person who has already asked three times reads like the fourth ask. That is the reason a paid option exists, not a legal requirement.

When is this the wrong move?

• The lot owner disputes the levy was validly struck. That is a challenge to the resolution itself and goes to ncat, not to a demand letter.
• You are the strata manager acting for the owners corporation. Check your agency agreement — issuing demands on behalf of the owners corporation may already sit inside your engagement.
• The debt spans a sale of the lot. Unpaid levies follow the lot, not the person. work out who owed what and when before you send anything.
• The debt is outside the limitation period. Most Australian contract debts stop being enforceable after six years. Check the limitation period first.
• They are already in liquidation, administration or bankruptcy. A demand does nothing once an insolvency practitioner is appointed.

And one about us rather than you: we can only send letters on your behalf where the debtor is in NSW, Victoria, Queensland or the ACT. Doing it for someone else in WA, SA, Tasmania or the NT needs a licence we do not hold. The free letter above works in all eight.

Should you send it yourself, or have us send it?

A letter you send yourself works in a small number of cases — usually where the other side simply forgot and one firm reminder is enough.

For most debts it is not enough. If you have already asked and been ignored, another message from you changes nothing. What changes things is the debt leaving your hands: a demand on our letterhead, written and approved by a NSW solicitor, delivered and tracked, followed up on a schedule, and handed to a partner law firm on day 14 if it is still unpaid.

Use the free letter to put it in writing. If that does not work, you need more than a letter.

What other letters can you build here?

Every one of these is the same tool, set up for a different debt. All free, all downloadable as Word or PDF.

• Unpaid invoices — the general business version, and the place to start if none of the others fit
• Unpaid wages — what law is on your side when wages go unpaid
• Rent arrears — does a rent demand go to a court or a tribunal
• Unpaid fees — does your engagement letter change what you can demand
• Money you lent — can you recover a loan with nothing in writing