Locked in a dispute over unpaid rent, convicted drug dealer Shane Charter and his brother Craig used a "self-help" remedy to change the locks on a multi-million dollar Melbourne townhouse to evict their tenant.
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But after being ordered to change back the locks, the siblings claim they can't because the Fitzroy home has been re-leased and the new tenant refuses to leave.
Supreme Court Justice Peter Riordan on Wednesday joked the pair didn't have trouble changing the locks on their last tenant, but refused to make an order allowing Tom Karas and his family to return to the home.
Instead he said the "intriguing" and "bizarre" dispute should be decided by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which first heard the complaint last month.
Mr Karas - who has been accused of, but never charged with having links to gangland figure Tony Mokbel's brother Horty - wants to reclaim possession of the family home, which still contains most of his family's possessions.
His wife Irene Meletsis sold the townhouse to a trust operated by the Charter brothers' company CSC1957 Investments for $2.2 million in 2014, the court was told.
The family then leased the home, but faced eviction over $8300 in unpaid rent in August last year.
Justice Riordan said rent was paid in December after the family was served with a notice to vacate, but VCAT proceedings were adjourned after Shane Charter - a convicted drug trafficker central to the AFL Essendon doping saga - was removed as a trustee in a credit transfer that's also under scrutiny.
Craig Charter objects and alleges the transfer - understood to be to Mr Karas' brother Bill - is a forgery.
Unhappy with the result, Justice Riordan said the brothers had used their own "self-help remedy" and changed the locks on January 2 while Mr Karas was at a funeral and Ms Meletsis and their daughters were on holiday.
In an urgent hearing the following day the brothers were ordered to change them back, but the court was told on Wednesday that they had already re-leased the property.
When a locksmith went to the Nicholson Street home, police were called and Mr Karas was ordered to leave.
Representing the brothers, lawyer Ian Percy conceded Mr Karas had priority to possess the property over the new tenant, but said his clients were unable to change the locks back given the third party had moved in and was refusing to vacate.
"Your client had no trouble doing that when the old tenant was in there," Justice Riordan retorted.
He said given the new tenant had been added as a defendant in the VCAT matters on Monday that tribunal was best placed to hear the matter and dismissed the case.
Craig Charter attended but did not speak after the proceedings, while trustees for Mr Karas' bankrupt estate were also in court.
The case returns to VCAT later this month.
Australian Associated Press