Contract Law
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Deposits hold a special place in contracts for the sale of land and do not fall within the general rules about penalties. Where a purchaser defaults the deposit (customarily 10 per cent) can be forfeited even though the amount of the deposit bears no reference to the anticipated loss to the vendor flowing from the
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What is the extent to which a contract is under the “control of the court” after an order for specific performance is made in favour of a vendor of land, the purchaser fails to comply with that order and the vendor then seeks vacation of the order and leave of the court to obtain damages
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Where an owner of land is struggling to pay loans secured over the land it is not uncommon for the owner to enter into a lease with a related party in an attempt to avoid losing control of the land should the mortgagee enter possession and attempt to sell the land. The questions which arise
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In Gayed & Anor v Yuan [2024] VSCA 85 the Victorian Court of Appeal confirmed that: The purchasers bought land for $3,190,000 and paid a deposit of 10% of the purchase price, being $319,000. Three weeks before settlement the purchasers’ solicitor advised the vendor that the purchasers would be approximately $160,000 “short” of the balance needed to
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Today I posted an article about Verraty Pty Ltd v Richmond Football Club [2019] VCAT 1073. I have had queries about paragraph (i) where I said: “where the commencing rent under a new lease does not exceed $1,000,000 for the first 12 months, before the lease is entered into the landlord should make an estimate
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The High Court has resisted an invitation to expand the grounds on which a party can enforce an oral contract for the sale of the land on the ground of part performance. Legislation in each State and Territory requires that contracts for the sale of land meet certain formal requirements if they are to be
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In the post of earlier today I referred to the Justice Legislation Miscellaneous Amendment Bill 1990; the reference should have been to the Justice Legislation Miscellaneous Amendment Bill 2018.
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The Victorian government has revealed its “fix” for the problems that emerged from the Victorian Court of Appeal’s decision in Advisory Services Pty Ltd v Augustin [2018] VSCA 95. That decision was the subject of an earlier blog. The consequence of the decision was that estate agents faced claims by vendors for recovery of commissions that
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Vendors of properties who have paid commissions to real estate agents are gearing up to recover the commissions on the ground that they were paid by mistake following the Court of Appeal’s decision in Advisory Services Pty Ltd v Augustin [2018] VSCA 95. Agents are in turn likely to take action against the party that drafted
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Deposits hold a special place in contracts for the sale of land and do not fall within the general rules about penalties. Where a purchaser defaults the deposit (customarily 10 per cent) can be forfeited even though the amount of the deposit bears no reference to the anticipated loss to the vendor flowing from the
