In that case the big difference is the Vendors unwillingness to give the ATO a cent.
Therefore they would rather keep their house as an asset than give it to the ATO.. I can imagine once you've paid the ATO it would be very difficult to get it back.
What's interesting is they tried to quietly sell it. I could speculate that they didn't think they ATO debt was officially owed yet since it was still being challenged, maybe this is why they weren't worried about selling?
Even if the sale went though, holding cash is a risk, since the ATO can just garnish it from their bank account. Unless they planned to send it overseas
In my case the vendor had no problem paying the ATO, although it was probably sooner than they wished!
I would argue if this happens the ATO would sieze it and sell it. If the are concerned enough to garnishee funds they will proceed to sieze quickly if the sale stops.
The ATO team monitors property owned by creditors.