The writ of venditioni exponas is a blot on the jurisprudence of the ACT. It a weapon of injustice and should be expunged.
As with all Latin phrases, there is an English translation. Venditioni exponas means expose for sale. It is a writ taken out against people with debts to sell their property. It was taken out against a Canberra couple recently for payment of a $4600 debt. Their $250,000 house was exposed for sale and fetched $75,000 at an “”auction”.
The outrage by the couple who house was sold resulted in a scene of anger and violence and resulted last week in the conviction of the woman for resisting arrest.
Clearly, the house was not exposed for sale widely enough. There is another Latin phrase: res ipsa loquitur. It means: the facts speak for themselves. The fact that a $250,000 house was sold for $75,000 to satisfy is an outrage typical of medieval injustice against the serfs and utterly unacceptable in modern Australian society. Someone has made a completely unjustified windfall. It is obvious that properly advertised with a competent real estate even in a fire-sale situation the property would have attracted at least 80 per cent of its fair market value. Even if the couple were recalcitrant and negligent by not paying their debt, they do not deserve to have their house undersold by some $175,000.
The couple come from a non-English-speaking background which is of further concern.
ACT Attorney-General Gary Humphries must quickly review this law. It should not be possible to expose people’s valuable assets to the mercy of ridiculously under-valued bids. There must be many ways to overcome this situation. Some requirements of fair advertising; valuations; requirements not to sell under a certain percentage; tendering the auction with commissions to ensure the sellers have an interest in seeking best value are some obvious ways of getting a more just result, even if the costs come out of the property.