​18. Property

​C.  Mortgages​

i.  Legislation
​
Made under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth):
  • ​ASIC Credit (Deferral of Mortgage Broker Obligations) Instrument 2020/487: exempts persons (mortgage brokers and their credit representatives) from all provisions of Division 2 of Part 3-5A of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 in relation to the provision of credit assistance to a consumer before 1 January 2021. The instrument also exempts persons from all provisions of Division 4 of Part 3-5A of the Act in relation to a benefit given before 1 January 2021 to a licensee or a representative of a licensee.

ii.  Case law

​​The NSW Supreme Court has considered the circumstances of COVID-19 in the context of several applications seeking to defer the enforcement of orders requiring vacant possession of real property. Those cases are considered elsewhere in this text: see the Stay of Judgments, Orders and Other Decisions section (Civil Procedure) in Chapter 4.
 
Similarly, the Supreme Court of Victoria took into account constraints imposed by ministerial directions relating to COVID-19 in staying the operation of declarations entitling a mortgagee to dispose of personal possessions in a recovered property and to use the proceeds of their sale: National Australia Bank v Bezeg [2020] VSC 163, [1], [29]. The stay was granted to allow the mortgagor to inspect and collect chattels left at the property in a timely fashion, allowing for constrains relating to COVID-19 ([29]).

iii.  Further resources

Australian Banking Association, FAQs: What You Need to Know about COVID-19 Bank Relief

​