Local Rates

2024-02-23 Debt Collectors

A letter arrives from Resolve Collections Ltd. wherein they threaten to harm my credit rating. They give me 21 days from the date on their notice. What I notice is that it is dated the 14th, so it took 9 days to get here and it's Friday so nothing will get done until after the weekend. It certainly wouldn't allow me time to get an appointment with a lawyer. Here is my reply:

2024-01-22 Threat of Court Proceedings

I received Buller District Council "final warning letter". They allege they tried to contact me several times to discuss overdue rate arrears. They allege I failed to respond. However that is a lie.

They have failed to explain what services I would be paying them for. They have failed to explain why I should be obliged to pay them at all. They are not willing to consider how I might sustain their recurring payments, or even aford the exorbitant costs of living that I now incur consequent to moving to this shit-hole.

I had come here hoping to retire where I might enjoy walking my dogs in unspoiled nature, but the area was misrepresented and I was decieved: Dogs are banned from their "untamed natural wildreness" and we've been forced to do our walks exposed to the elements on soft sandy beaches. The lack of support has resulted in knee injury and reemergence of an old hernia while the glaring sun has blistered my skin.

As pest control, "Vector" presumably funded with our taxes, dump poison bait in the bush. Meat that one might hunt, is likely contaminated and unsafe to eat.

As a former city dweller I've been unable to catch any fish and have had no success growing my own vegetables. The garden and fencing have proved unsuitable for my dogs, with agressive and hostile neighbors on all four sides.

Even if I did want to stay here, the house that I was sold (with some suspicious shenanigans) has many defects and is of very low standard. Trying to fix it up would deplete the last of my savings, so I'm not going to do that. Reality is that this place is completely unfit for purpose. I will have to move again, but expect to have a hard time selling and I have nowhere to go when I do.

There appear to be two local authorities in this area, each making demands with threats that can only result in me ending up cold homeless and hungry. I suspect they would calously "euthanize" my three loving and friendly dogs. I feel I have no alternative, but to withhold my compliance and to fight back.

Adjacent I upload all our communictaions so far. Among them, on 19 September 2023, after failing to answer my questions, their agent, Jenny Collins confirms she will only be sending me debt notices, so their alleged attempts at discussing are a myth. They are not going to listen. Trying to talk to them proves futile and their threats of taking my home and my income effectively will amount to a death sentence.

Consequently it is necessary that my case be heard in a lawful court by an independent judge or magistrate. By that I mean one that actually has jurisdiction to rule on the merit of my reasons for not paying against their justification for making such demands with menaces.

Jenny further threatens that their legal costs will be added to my alleged debt. She herself faces no consequences at all and will be collecting a fat wage at our expense regardless. However, this too is not a decision for her to make, but one for the court. To me it seems they are behaving just like the Mafia, running a protection racket. I believe that without an agreed contract I am under no obligation to pay. It is their intransigence that makes independent arbitration necessary. I doubt their lawyers will even attempt to produce an equitable, or viable solution.

Staying alive

Due to bureaucratic fuck-up after a change in the way WINZ handle superanuation, my current income is $374 per fortnight. Even if i can get that sorted with the foreign authorities concerned the very basic costs of living here will still prove to be beyond my means.

While I do still have some savings, my first priority must be to feed myself and my 3 dogs. They also may need flea treatment and worming and there may be vet bills.

Some have questioned whether I need 3 dogs, but to me they are my family, my companions. Experience has taught me I should trust nobody else. I doubt I would be able to find them new homes and I really don't want them to be put down just because of money.

I need electricity for heating, for cooking, for the fridge and lights. Without it even my water pump won't run. I need gas for hot water. I have other needs, like transport: Over here there are few shops and large distances to cover. I'm long over due dental treatment and I need a new prescription for glasses.

Currently I don't even have shoes and I have no socks either. Sooner or later I will need to buy new clothes. These essentials are the things I propose to reserve my savigs for. I'm not even addressing repairs and simple improvements like getting a kitchen sink that I can use for washing the dishes.

Insanity

They say that insanity is to repeat the same thing again and again, but expect a different outcome each time. With previous local area authorities, I've complied and paid whatever they asked for. When things became untenable I hired lawyers to sort it out, but they utterly failed me and I got completely screwed. My side was never even considered and I didn't even get a list of all the payments that were taken at my expense. I need answers as to what happened there too. I'm going to be appying for them retrospectively as well as putting in claims for compensation.

While I don't think it's the way to go, I am beginning to understand how the case of Russell John Tully may have escalated into its tragic outcome. Those "just doing their job" ought to consider if doing so like mindless cogs in a soulless corporate machine really does make them the "helpless victims", or maybe more like calous pepetrators toying with the lives of innocents.