Key takeaways
- •When your company's lender appoints a receiver, the receiver controls the property it was appointed over and can sell it, but your company still exists and its directors stay in office.
- •After a receiver is appointed, your company's directors must give the receiver a report about the company's affairs within 10 business days of the company receiving the receiver's notice of appointment.
- •A receiver selling your company's property must take all reasonable care to sell it for at least its market value at the time of sale, and the receiver chooses the agent, the campaign and the sale date.
- •The payout figure, the amount your lender needs to be paid before it discharges its mortgage, grows while a receivership runs, because default interest, the lender's enforcement costs and the receiver's fees can be added to it.
- •Secured Lending can refinance your company's lender after a receiver is appointed, including once the receiver has signed a conditional contract with a buyer, with a loan secured by property within 70% of its value.
- •What repaying the lender that appointed the receiver means for the receiver's appointment is a question for insolvency specialists. We do not give insolvency advice, and we can connect you with insolvency specialists in our network.
If your company's lender has appointed a receiver over its property, the receiver now controls that property and has the power to sell it. Your company still exists, you are still a director, and the lender that appointed the receiver can still be repaid. We can refinance that lender with a short-term business loan secured by property, after the appointment and while the receiver is preparing the sale.
You are not alone in this. According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's insolvency statistics, the number of companies whose first insolvency appointment was a receiver rose from 837 in the 2024-25 financial year to 1,020 in 2025-26.
We would be glad to help your company work out whether a refinance can repay the lender before the receiver sells. A private loan is a good fit here because it can be in place quickly: we lend our own funds, our in-house team values the property, we decide in hours, and we can settle within 24 hours on qualifying loans. Below is what the receiver controls, what is due from you and when, and how a refinance works once a receiver is in place.
What the receiver controls, and what you still do as a director
A receiver is appointed by a secured lender under the terms of its security, and the receiver's powers come from that security and from the Corporations Act. Section 420 of the Corporations Act 2001 gives a receiver power to take possession and control of the company's property, to lease or sell it, to borrow money on the security of the property, and to carry on the company's business.
The appointment may be of a receiver, or of a receiver and manager who also runs the company's business. Either way, the receiver's principal duty is to the lender that appointed it.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission's guide to receivership explains where that leaves the directors. You continue to hold office, but control of the secured property, which often includes the company's business, is taken away from you. Your powers as a director depend on the receiver's powers and on how much of the company's property the receiver was appointed over. The same guide notes that the grounds on which a person can be banned as a director after company liquidations do not apply to directors of companies that have only gone into receivership.
What you have to do, and what becomes public
The first deadline applies to the directors. Under section 429 of the Corporations Act, the directors must give the receiver a report in the prescribed form about the company's affairs within 10 business days after the company receives the receiver's notice of appointment. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission's guide calls it the Report on Company Activities and Property.
The appointment is also public. The lender that made the appointment must lodge notice of it within 7 days (section 427), and while the receiver is in place the company must state on every public document and negotiable instrument, after its name, that a receiver, or a receiver and manager, has been appointed (section 428). Customers, suppliers and tenants will see it on the company's letters and invoices.
How the receiver sells the property
Section 420A of the Corporations Act sets the standard the receiver must meet when it sells. The receiver must take all reasonable care to sell the property for not less than its market value at the time it is sold, or, if the property has no market value, for the best price reasonably obtainable in the circumstances at that time.
That is the minimum the law requires, and it is measured at the date of sale. The choice of agent, the campaign and the sale date sit with the receiver, because control of the property has passed to the receiver. If you believe the property would sell for more with a longer campaign or a different agent, those decisions are still the receiver's to make.
When the property is sold, the money is paid out in a set order. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission's guide explains that the money from selling property such as land goes first to the receiver's costs and fees, then to the lender, and any surplus is paid to the company. Every dollar of costs paid from the sale reduces the surplus that can be paid to your company.
Why the payout figure keeps growing
The payout figure is the amount the lender needs to be paid before it discharges its mortgage, and it is usually higher than the loan balance you remember. Once the loan is in default, the loan agreement can allow the lender to add default interest and its enforcement and legal costs. The receiver is entitled to be paid its fees from the sale of the secured property, and how those fees are calculated is usually set out in the security agreement and the appointment document. Each week the receivership runs, these amounts can grow.
Ask the lender for the payout figure in writing, to a stated settlement date, and ask it to confirm that the figure includes the receiver's costs and fees to that date. That written figure is the number a refinance is sized to.
An illustrative example of why the timing matters: a property valued at $3,000,000 can carry total borrowing of up to $2,100,000, because that is 70% of its value. If the written payout figure is $1,800,000, the refinance fits with $300,000 to spare, which could also fund working capital for your company. Each week of default interest and receiver's costs added to the payout figure reduces that $300,000. If the payout figure grows past $2,100,000 and no other property can be added, the refinance no longer fits within 70% of the property's value.
Refinancing the lender while the receiver prepares the sale
We can refinance a lender after it has appointed a receiver. The loan is made to your company. At settlement, the loan funds repay the appointing lender's payout figure in full, and any working capital included in the loan is paid to your company. The loan is then repaid to us through a defined exit, such as a sale of the property or a refinance to a bank.
How the loan is set up:
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Borrower | Your company. We lend to companies, not to individuals |
| Security | A first or second registered mortgage over residential, commercial or industrial property |
| Loan size | From $250,000 |
| Maximum loan-to-value ratio | 70%, across all loans on the property, including the payout and any working capital |
| Interest rates | From 9.7% p.a. on a first mortgage, from 11.95% p.a. on a second mortgage |
| Term | 1 to 24 months, most loans run 3 to 6 months |
| Speed | Decisions in hours, a letter of offer once terms are agreed, settlement within 24 hours on qualifying loans |
The security can be the property the receiver was appointed over, another property your company owns, or a director's home or investment property, with your company as the borrower. If the equity sits in a second property rather than the one under receivership, that property can be added as security, and the combined borrowing stays within the same 70% maximum. If two banks have already declined to refinance while a receiver is in place, we can still assess the loan. We look at the property, the payout figure within 70% of its value and the exit.
Our in-house valuers value the property, so there is no wait for an outside valuer. Where it is needed, we can work with the receiver directly, for example to arrange access to the property for our valuation.
Is it too late once the sale campaign has started?
No. We can refinance while the receiver's campaign is running, and we can still refinance after the receiver has signed a conditional contract with a buyer. Whether that contract can be ended is a question for your solicitor and the receiver, and we cannot promise it. The earlier we see the receiver's campaign dates, the more of the campaign period is left for the valuation and the loan documents.
What happens to the receivership when the lender is repaid?
Our loan repays the lender that appointed the receiver. What that repayment means for the receiver's appointment, and for any sale the receiver has under way, is a question for insolvency specialists. We are a lender, and we do not give insolvency advice. We can connect you with insolvency specialists in our network. Your solicitor can review our loan documents and any contract the receiver has signed.
Our receivership refinance loans page sets out the same refinance for a lender that has issued a default notice or a letter of demand but has not yet appointed a receiver.
Case study: $3.685 million to repay the existing mortgagee after a receiver was appointed
A borrower came to us after a receiver had been appointed, with interest and associated costs building up quickly. The receiver's involvement had taken control of the property sale away from the borrower.
We lent $3.685 million secured against a property in St Ives, New South Wales. The loan funded the payout of the existing mortgagee, and gave the borrower time to manage the sale of the St Ives property itself.
The case study records that the borrower regained control of the sales process, avoided escalating costs and was able to proceed with the sale on its own terms.
Case study: $6.4 million on a first mortgage over two commercial units, repaid from the sale four months later
An insolvency practitioner advising a company's director approached us for a short-term bridging loan to allow an orderly sale of property. The borrower had made significant trading losses during the pandemic and could not meet its obligations to the Australian Taxation Office or service an existing business loan. It had asked the bank to let it sell the assets itself, but the bank appointed a receiver.
We provided $6.4 million to pay out the existing mortgagee, secured by a first mortgage over two commercial units, which allowed a sale process to proceed. Four months later the borrower sold the assets at a premium price, repaid our loan in full, and kept significant surplus capital for the business.
Frequently asked questions
The receiver has already signed a conditional contract with a buyer. Can we still refinance?
Yes. We can still refinance the lender at that stage. Whether the receiver's contract with the buyer can be ended is a question for your solicitor and the receiver, so send us the contract's conditions and dates on the first call.
The receiver controls access to the property. How do you value it?
Our in-house valuers value the property. Where it is needed, we can work with the receiver directly to arrange access for the valuation.
Can the refinance give our company working capital as well as repaying the lender?
Yes. The loan can include working capital on top of the payout figure, as long as the total of all loans on the property stays within 70% of its value. The working capital is paid to your company at settlement.
Our company's equity is in my home, not in the property under receivership. Can my home secure the refinance?
Yes, with your company as the borrower. A director's home or investment property can secure the company's loan, alone or together with the property under receivership, within our 70% maximum loan-to-value ratio.
Will repaying the lender end the receiver's appointment?
That is a question for insolvency specialists, not for us as a lender. Our loan repays the lender that appointed the receiver. We do not give insolvency advice, and we can connect you with insolvency specialists in our network who can explain what the repayment means for the appointment.
How Secured Lending Can Help
We would be glad to help your company repay the lender that appointed the receiver. Our loan is secured by a first or second mortgage over property your company or a director owns, and it is repaid to us through a defined exit, such as a sale of the property or a bank refinance.
A private loan suits a receivership because the timetable is set by the receiver's sale campaign, and we can move inside it. We lend our own funds, our in-house team values the property, we decide in hours, and we can settle within 24 hours on qualifying loans. If the case would benefit from an insolvency specialist, we can connect you with one in our network. If the receiver's sale is only days away, our page on urgent short term loans when a receiver or administrator is appointed sets out how quickly that kind of loan can be put in place.
We provide secured loans backed by real property. If you would like us to look at a refinance for your company, it helps to have these to hand:
- •The receiver's appointment documents and the receiver's contact details.
- •The lender's written payout figure, including the receiver's costs and fees, with the date it is valid to.
- •The property under receivership, and any other property your company or a director owns that could back the loan.
- •The receiver's sale campaign dates, and any contract the receiver has signed.
- •How your company plans to repay the loan, and roughly when.
You are welcome to call us on 1300 795 175 to talk it through, or send the details through and we will come back to you. In most cases, we can tell you within hours whether a refinance can repay your lender.
