Kumar v Sydney Western Realty Pty Ltd & Anor (No. 2) [2021] NSWDC 446

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Kumar v Sydney Western Realty Pty Ltd & Anor (No. 2) [2021] NSWDC 446 Hearing dates: 2 – 5 August 2021 Date of orders: 31 August 2021 Decision date: 31 August 2021 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Abadee DCJ Decision: See paragraphs 265 – 268 Catchwords: TRADE AND COMMERCE – misleading or deceptive conduct – advertisement by vendor's agent for sale of residential property – advertisement refers to expected dual income stream from two buildings on property acquired under contract for sale, one of those buildings being a granny flat – doubt about the legality of use of building as a granny flat – whether the agent was aware of such doubt – whether opinion on rental misleading or deceptive for absence of qualification – whether vendor's agent acted as a mere conduit – whether test for causation on statutory action the same as the test under common law TORT – professional negligence – conveyancing – omission by solicitor to advise purchaser that granny flat lacked necessary development consent from local council – content of duty of care – identification of risk of harm – whether solicitor failed to take reasonable precautions by omitting to advise client of ramifications of notice from local council that granny flat not habitable – whether factual causation – whether evidentiary onus upon solicitor to establish information could not have been obtained from local council DAMAGES – contributory negligence – apportionment EVIDENCE – whether Jones v Dunkel adverse inference should be drawn from failure of first defendant to call former employee as witness Legislation Cited: Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) ss 87CB, 139B, Sch 2 — Australian Consumer Law ss 5D, 18, 20, 21, 22, 236 Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) ss 5B, 5D, 5E, 5O, 34 Cases Cited: Allianz Australia Insurance Ltd v GSF Australia Pty Ltd (2005) 221 CLR 568 Argy v Blunts & Lane Cove Real Estate Pty Ltd (1990) 26 FCR 112 Australian Executor Trustees (SA) Ltd v Kerr [2021] NSWCA 5 Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Hellicar (2012) 247 CLR 345 Blatch v Archer (1774) 98 ER 969 Butcher v Lachlan Elder Realty Pty Ltd (2004) 218 CLR 592 Campbell v Backoffice Investments Pty Ltd (2009) 238 CLR 304 Campomar v Nike International (2000) 202 CLR 45 Cape Byron Power I Pty Ltd v HSB Engineering Insurance Ltd [2017] NSWSC 1081 Cellarit Pty Ltd v Cawarrah Holdings Pty Ltd [2018] NSWCA 213 Clayton v Bant (2020) 385 ALR 41 Doppstadt Australia Pty Ltd v Lovick & Son Developments Pty Ltd [2014] NSWCA 158 Earle v Castlemaine District Hospital [1974] VR 722 Farrow Mortgage Services Pty Ltd (in liq) v Webb (1996) 39 NSWLR 601 Fink v Fink (1946) 74 CLR 127 Fox v Everingham (1983) 76 FLR 170 Gates v City Mutual Life Assurance Society (1986) 160 CLR 1 Gould v Vaggelas (1985) 157 CLR 215 Henville v Walker (2001) 206 CLR 459 HTW Valuers (Central Qld) v Astonland Pty Ltd (2004) 217 CLR 640 Hyder v McGrath Sales Pty Ltd [2018] NSWCA 223 Ireland v WG Riverview Pty Ltd [2019] NSWCA 307 Johnson v Perez (1988) 166 CLR 351 Jones v Dunkel (1959) 101 CLR 298 Kuhl v Zurich Financial Services Australia Ltd (2011) 243 CLR 361 Kumar v Sydney Realty Pty Ltd & Anor [2021] NSWDC 430 Kyriacou v Kogarah Municipal Council (1995) 88 LGERA 110 March v Stramare (E & MH) Pty Ltd (1991) 171 CLR 506 Marks v GIO Australia Holdings Ltd (1998) 196 CLR 494 Matar v Jones [2011] NSWCA 304 Miller & Associates Insurance Broking Pty Ltd v BMW Australia Finance Ltd (2010) 241 CLR 357 Morris v Duke-Cohan & Co (1975) 119 S J 826 Morvatjou v Moradkhani [2013] NSWCA 157 Neal v Ambulance Service (NSW) [2008] NSWCA 346 Payne v Parker [1976] 1 NSWLR 191 Provident Capital Ltd v Papa (2013) 84 NSWLR 231 RMS v Grant [2015] NSWCA 138 Russo v Aiello (2003) 215 CLR 643 Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd v MasterCard Incorporated [2020] 4 All ER 807 Selig v Wealthsure (2015) 255 CLR 661 Springfield v Duncombe [2017] NSWCA 137 State of NSW v Moss (2000) 54 NSWLR 536 Sykes v Midland Bank Executor and Trustee Co Ltd [1971] 1 QB 113 Tabet v Gett (2010) 240 CLR 537 Todorovic v Waller (1981) 150 CLR 402 Travel Compensation Fund v Tambree (2005) 224 CLR 627 Wallace v Kam (2013) 250 CLR 375 Wyong Shire Council v Shirt (1980) 146 CLR 40 Texts Cited: J D Heydon, Cross on Evidence (Lexis Nexis, online version) Jackson & Powell on Professional Liability (8th ed, 2017, Sweet & Maxwell) S Walmsley, A Abadee, B Zipser & G Sirtes, Professional Liability in Australia (3rd ed, 2016, Lawbook Co) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Ms D Kumar (plaintiff) Sydney Western Realty Pty Ltd (first defendant) Mr A Singh (second defendant) Representation: Counsel: Mr R O'Neill for the plaintiff Mr M Klooster for the first defendant Mr M Hutchings for the second defendant