Most landlords seek advice prior to entering a commercial lease.

But, as the cautionary tales in this article suggest, if the tenant goes into administration or liquidation, landlords would be wise to seek specialist advice. The lesson is simple: a landlord should not lightly assume that the appointment of an administrator or liquidator implies the end of the lease or a right to re-enter the premises.

Queensland tourism icon “The Big Pineapple” recently tasted sweet success in the Queensland Supreme Court with judgment setting aside a creditor’s statutory demand issued against it as part of an ongoing multi-million dollar dispute amongst investors.

The changes create new civil and criminal offences for the transfer of assets which are “creditor-defeating dispositions”, and also give ASIC, the ATO and liquidators additional powers in a bid to increase successful enforcement of these new laws.

Following the implementation of the Safe Harbor protections introduced last September, new changes to the Corporations Act 2001 come into force on 1 July 2018, significantly limiting the ability of parties to rely on insolvency as a means to terminate a contract. These changes intend to help facilitate the restructure and turnaround of struggling companies and are being hailed by insolvency practitioners as a long overdue softening of existing insolvency laws.

Directors play a central role in the management of a company and are therefore pivotal to its growth and success. In addition to the day-to-day duties associated with operating and managing the business of a company, it is important that directors also understand the legal duties and obligations associated with their appointment.

Cash flow is crucial to the efficient running of a business. Mounting debt can significantly affect the operations of your company, result in increased interest costs and cause you to be unable to meet your own financial liabilities. If not addressed, debts can reach critical levels and will ultimately lead to insolvency.

To survive, strategies to prevent debts getting out of control must be embedded into your company’s DNA.