Victorian Current Acts Victorian Current ActsS. 180(1) amended by Nos 57/1989 s. 5(4), 27/1997 s. 14, 30/2022 s. 12.
(1) Subject to section 180A, if a rate or charge (including any instalment or any part of a rate or charge) remains unpaid after it is due and payable, the Council may recover it in the Magistrates' Court or by suing for debt.
(2) If any rate or charge is recovered from an owner of rateable land and an agreement with the owner of the land states that the occupier of the land must pay any rate or charge, the owner may recover the rate or charge from the occupier in the same manner in which the owner may recover rent owing to that owner.
(3) An occupier who pays any rate or charge under this section need not pay more than the amount of rent owed by the occupier at the time of the demand or the payment.
(4) Subsection (3) does not apply—
(a) if the occupier has agreed to pay any rate or charge; or
(b) if, after the Council requests that the occupier disclose the rent and the name and address of the person to whom it is payable, the occupier does not do so.
(5) For the purposes of this section, the occupier has the burden of proof of showing that—
(a) the occupier had not agreed to pay any rate or charge; and
(b) the amount of any rate or charge to be paid on any land by that occupier is more than the rent owed by the occupier for the land.
S. 180A inserted by No. 30/2022 s. 13.