Default & cancellation notices
Received a default or cancellation notice?
These notices are time-sensitive. That is the single most important thing to know about them. A notice may set a period for a response or for payment, and steps can follow at the end of it. Waiting to see what happens is rarely a strategy. It is also worth knowing that a default notice is not the end of the conversation. Purchasers receive them for reasons that range from genuine arrears to disputes over whether an instalment ever fell due.
What to do now
Do not ignore it. Do not respond emotionally or immediately. Do not pay simply to make it go away without understanding what the payment is being treated as. Collect the file: the notice itself, the SPA and payment plan, every receipt, the correspondence that preceded the notice and any complaint you have already raised.
What the notice needs to be read against
- The exact terms and deadlines of the notice
- How the notice was served
- The SPA payment plan and default provisions
- Whether the instalment claimed fell due
- Any construction milestone the payment was tied to
- Your complete payment history
- Project progress and status
- Any outstanding complaint you have raised
- The consequences the notice threatens
- The applicable procedure and timeframes
A notice sometimes follows a complaint
It is not unusual for a purchaser who has raised delay, defects or specification issues to receive a payment demand or default notice shortly afterwards. That does not make the notice invalid, and it does not make it valid either. It does mean the two matters are connected and should be handled together.
Questions on this page
Have the notice reviewed promptly. The appropriate response depends on your SPA, payment history, the developer’s performance and applicable procedures.