31Recovery of certain payments by Commonwealth

#### 31 Recovery of certain payments by Commonwealth (1) Where: (a) an amount has been paid to the Bank by the Commonwealth by way of subsidy on a loan to a person; and (b) the amount is not payable under this Act; and (c) neither subclause 8.1 nor 8.5 of the agreement applies in relation to the amount; and (d) the Bank is not required to pay the due amount to the Commonwealth under subclause 8.2 of the agreement; the due amount is payable to the Commonwealth by the person. (2) Where: (a) the Bank sells any property by way of enforcing a mortgage securing a loan to a person; and (b) as a result of the sale, the Commonwealth is required to pay an amount to the Bank under subclause 8.4 of the agreement; an amount equal to that amount is payable to the Commonwealth by the person. (3) Where: (a) the Bank sells any property that is, or was at any time, subject to a subsidised loan to a person; and (b) the sale is by way of enforcing a mortgage securing that loan or another loan to the person; and (c) a due amount is payable under this section to the Commonwealth by the person; the Bank must pay to the Commonwealth an amount equal to: (d) the part of the proceeds of the sale that, apart from this subsection, would have been payable by the Bank to the person; or (e) the unpaid part of the due amount; whichever is less. (4) A payment by the Bank to the Commonwealth under subsection (3) is, to the extent of the payment, a discharge of any liability of the person referred to in that subsection to the Commonwealth and of any liability of the Bank to the person under the mortgage or the loan agreement. (5) Where: (a) an amount is payable to the Commonwealth under this section by a person other than the Bank; and (b) the person does not pay the amount; the amount may be recovered from the person in a court of competent jurisdiction as a debt due to the Commonwealth. (6) Where: (a) a due amount is payable to the Commonwealth under this section by a person other than the Bank; and (b) the Secretary is satisfied, on written application by the person, that payment of the due amount in full would cause the person, or the person’s family, unreasonable financial hardship; the Secretary may, by notice in writing given to the person, reduce the due amount by such amount as the Secretary specifies in the notice and this section applies in relation to the reduced amount as if it were the due amount. (7) The Secretary must cause a copy of a notice under subsection (6) to be given to the Bank in accordance with the agreement. (8) In this section: > due amount means an amount equal to the amount incorrectly paid to the Bank by way of subsidy on a loan to a person plus interest on that amount at the benchmark rate from time to time applicable from the day the incorrect payment was made until payment is made to the Commonwealth under the agreement or this section, as the case requires.