Atidote Pty Ltd t/as Harcourts, The Property People Sydney v Najjar [2024] NSWSC 206

JUDGMENTS AND ORDERS - enforcement – garnishee order – attachment of debts – Civil Procedure Act 2005, s 117 the plaintiff, a managing agent holds funds collected from the tenants of the second defendant, the owner of units in a residential and commercial building, on trust for the second defendant pursuant to a management agency agreement – the owners corporation of the strata plan of the building, the third defendant, obtains a money judgment in the District Court against the second defendant and serves a garnishee notice on the second defendant seeking to attach debts owed by the plaintiff to the second defendant pursuant to the management agreement – the plaintiff pays funds in its possession at the time of service of the garnishee order and thereafter to the third defendant – the second defendant defaults to its mortgagee and the mortgagee appoints a receiver, the first defendant – the receiver contends that the plaintiff wrongly paid monies under the garnishee order to the third defendant after the date of service of the garnishee order – whether the third defendant is entitled to retain the monies so received or whether those monies should be repaid to the plaintiff – construction of the expression “due and payable”.

Michael Collins appeared for the first and second defendants.

Reasons for the decision can be found here.