Waipā District Council has forced the sale of a Cambridge property owned by a person who had not paid any rates since September 2016.
Council is owed nearly $32,000 and took a rating sale by tender through the court in June. The property owner had owned the property since July 2014 and had no mortgage on it.
Any money remaining after all costs are paid go to the Public Trust who will pay out the person lawfully entitled to it.
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The rating sale was the only option available to the council as other avenues for recovery had been explored and resulted in no payments, council Revenue team leader Kirsten McNamara told the Finance and Corporate committee this week.
McNamara said the council had 11 properties – owing $121,052 – where legal action had started. Eight are in Cambridge and one each in Kihikihi, Te Awamutu and Ōhaupō.
The owner of one of the Cambridge properties has told the council they are a “sovereign citizen” and not required to pay rates on the mortgage-free property they have owned since October 2019.
Legal action will follow.
Enforcement through the courts involves the court entering judgment against the ratepayer. If rates remain unpaid three months after the court judgement, then the local authority can apply to a Registrar of the High Court to have the judgement enforced by the sale of the rating unit.
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