Queensland: the Disposal of Uncollected Goods Act 1967, section by section

01What the Act reaches

s 4(1)

The Act applies to goods a bailee (the person or business holding someone else’s goods) accepts in the course of a business “for inspection, custody, storage, repair or other treatment”, on terms that they will be handed back to the bailor, or as the bailor directs, when ready and when the agreed or reasonable charges are paid.

s 4(2)

It does not apply to goods, other than motor vehicles, left “with a storer within the meaning of the Storage Liens Act 1973”, unless the goods were also taken in for some other kind of treatment whose charges that Act’s lien does not cover. For a storer within that Act’s meaning, the Storage Liens Act 1973 is the starting point; its steps are in unit 06.

s 3(2)(c)

Goods accepted for storage are ready to be handed back when the arranged storage period has ended or, if no period was arranged, 7 days after they were accepted.

s 5

When goods are ready and the bailor fails to pay the charges, or pays but does not take or direct delivery, the bailee is entitled to sell them while the failure continues, subject to any agreement between them and to the rest of the Act.

02The conditions before a sale

Section 6(1) sets out what must happen before a bailee is entitled to sell.

s 6(1)(a)

A sign. At every place where the business accepts goods of that kind, a notice is conspicuously displayed saying that acceptance is subject to the Act and that the Act gives the bailee a right of sale in certain circumstances after at least 6 months from the date the goods are ready to be handed back.

s 6(1)(b)

A notice that the goods are ready, given to the bailor and to every other person the bailee actually knows has or claims an interest in them.

s 6(1)(c)

A court order, if the charges the bailee claims exceed $110 on the date the first ready notice is given.

s 6(1)(d)

Without a court order: after 6 months from the ready notice, and not less than 28 days before the sale, a notice of intention to sell, given to the bailor and every known interest holder and published in a newspaper published in Brisbane and circulating throughout the State, in a newspaper published in the local district if there is one, and, for a motor vehicle, in the gazette.

s 6(1)(e)

A public auction, with the goods sold in a lot that includes no other goods.

Every notice under the Act is in writing, and may be handed to the person, left at their last known home or business with someone there who appears to be 16 or older, or posted to their last known home address. Each notice describes the goods and states the sum the bailee claims; the ready notice warns that the goods are liable to be sold if the bailor does not pay or collect within 6 months, and the notice of intention warns the same for 28 days.

03When the bailor disputes the bill

If, before the notice of intention, the bailor refuses to pay or collect because the charges are too high or the work was not done properly, the right to sell is suspended until the dispute is decided. The bailee can give a notice saying the dispute will be treated as settled unless the bailor objects within one month; if no objection comes, it is treated as settled on the date of that notice. If the bailor objects, a Magistrates Court in the district where the goods were accepted can fix a reasonable amount for the charges.

Until a sale, anyone claiming an interest in the goods may pay the bailee the charges, including the reasonable cost of the notices, advertisements and preparing for the sale up to that point.

04The court route

An application for an order to sell goes to a Magistrates Court in the district where the goods were accepted. It needs the sign and the ready notice under s 6(1)(a) and (b), cannot be made while a dispute remains undecided, and not before 6 months from the ready notice; nor unless the bailee has, at least 28 days before applying, given a notice of intention to apply to the bailor and every known interest holder and published it in the same newspapers. An application may be made whatever the charges claimed: s 10(2), which says so, prints the figure as $100, while s 6(1)(c) uses $110. An order fixes the amount the court considers reasonable for the charges, which then becomes the bailor’s liability, and stops any sale for 28 days, or a shorter period the order names. The court’s power is subject to any agreement between the bailor and the applicant.

05After the auction

Within 7 days of the sale the bailee prepares a record of the goods, the sale, the auctioneer, the proceeds and each item of the charges, and keeps it with a copy of the notice of intention for 6 years, showing it on request to the bailor or anyone who had an interest in the goods. Where the court ordered the sale, a copy of the record is lodged with the court within 14 days of the sale.

Any surplus after the charges is paid to the public trustee within 14 days of the sale, unless already paid to the person entitled to it. The public trustee holds it for that person, who can be repaid less any prescribed charges, and after 6 years unclaimed it becomes unclaimed moneys under the Public Trustee Act 1978.

A motor vehicle cannot be sold, or made the subject of an application to sell, until the commissioner of the police service has certified that it is not recorded as stolen. An offence against the Act carries a penalty of up to 4 penalty units or 3 months imprisonment. In any proceedings about goods sold under the Act, the bailee carries the burden of proving the Act was followed.