Council can take court proceedings to recover the unpaid rates and penalties through a judgement order. The court costs will be added to the amount you have to pay. If you don’t pay, or make a suitable arrangement to pay your rates and costs within six months, the Council can apply to enforce the judgement order against the title to your property. You will then be unable to deal with your land without Council’s consent.
If the rates, penalties, and costs continue to remain unpaid, Council can apply to the Court to sell or lease your property with the proceeds used to cover all of the outstanding amounts, including the costs of the Court Registrar in selling or leasing your property. If there is any money left after that, it is paid to the Public Trustee and that agency is responsible for paying the balance to any person who has an interest in the land.