Loopholes removed from NAP law

Under the amended bill, those undergoing an NAP will be recorded on the Insolvency register for a period of five years as opposed to 12 monts.

A NAP is an alternative to bankruptcy enabling people to have debts up to $40,000 frozen before having them discharged.

Justice Minister Simon Power says the bill was examined by the Commerce Select Committee during May this year and it did not recommend any changes to the public register provision.

The changes to the no-asset procedure also close a current loophole around fraudulent debt. The official assignee now has the ability to extend the period of discharge to properly investigate any late information relating to a debtor's termination from the no-asset procedure, including any objections received from creditors.

This means that if any debts are created by fraud, or if the debtor has induced someone to write off a debt by means of a fraud, then these debts can be enforced after the debtor is discharged from the no-asset procedure.

This means that it will no longer be a case of rewarding a dishonest person, which was not the intention of the law when it was introduced.