Liew & Anor v Barthelmess & Ors [2024] NSWDC 344

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Liew & Anor v Barthelmess & Ors [2024] NSWDC 344 Hearing dates: 6-7 August 2024 Date of orders: 13 August 2024 Decision date: 13 August 2024 Jurisdiction: Civil Before: Abadee DCJ Decision: See paragraph [185] Catchwords: LAND LAW – sale of a residential building in Darling Point for $14.8 million – building divided into 3 lots – discrete contracts referable to each individual lot – contracts expressed to be interdependent in operation and which were materially similar in terms – amendments to the special conditions of the contract referable to payment of deposit in three instalments – certain monies paid by purchasers for deposit – vendors terminate all three contracts for purchasers' asserted failure to pay last instalment – vendors assert entitlement to retain monies paid by purchasers under first and second instalments – purchasers sue in action in restitution to recover monies paid – whether breach by purchasers of essential term entitling vendors to terminate CONTRACTS – dispute about the proper construction of the provision for payment of deposit – construction of terms – recourse to surrounding circumstances – whether contracts validly terminated by vendors – whether provision for payment of deposit unenforceable for constituting a penalty ESTOPPEL – estoppel by convention – whether purchasers attempting to resile from representation concerning provision for payment of deposit Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), s 100 Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW), s 55(2A) Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 42.1 Cases Cited: Cole & Anor v Raykir Holdings Pty Ltd (2019) 19 BPR 39,659; [2019] NSWSC 1017 Commissioner of Taxation v Reliance Carpet Co Pty Ltd (2008) 236 CLR 342 Electricity Generation Corporation v Woodside Energy Ltd (2014) 251 CLR 640 Howe v Smith (1884) 27 Ch D 89 Iannello & Anor v Sharpe (2007) 69 NSWLR 452 Luu v Sovereign Developments Pty Ltd (2006) 12 BPR 98,203; [2006] NSWCA 40 Moratic Pty Ltd v Gordon (2007) NSW ConvR 56-172; [2007] NSWSC 5 Mount Bruce Mining Pty Ltd v Wright Prospecting Pty Ltd (2015) 256 CLR 104 Newey v Westpac Banking Corporation [2014] NSWCA 319 Oliveri Legal Pty Ltd t/as Oliveri Lawyers v Cassegrain Tea Tree Oil Pty Ltd [2024] NSWCA 74 Price v Spoor (2021) 270 CLR 450 QBE Insurance Australia Ltd v Vasic [2010] NSWCA 166 Rushcutters Bay Developments Pty Ltd v Dragon Asset Investment Pty Ltd (No 2) [2017] NSWSC 866 Simic v New South Wales Land and Housing Corporation (2016) 260 CLR 85 Victoria v Tatts Group Ltd (2016) 328 ALR 564 Workpac Pty Ltd (ACN 111 076 012) v Rossato (2020) 378 ALR 585 Texts Cited: J W Carter, Carter's Breach of Contract (Thomson Reuters, 2nd ed, 2018) Category: Principal judgment Parties: Ms Liz Yuman Liew (First Plaintiff/First Cross-Defendant) Ms Lihua Wu (Second Plaintiff/Second Cross-Defendant) Mr Jonathan Joshua Barthelmess (First Defendant/First Cross-Claimant) Ms Laurette Ruth Macsween (Second Defendant/Second Cross-Claimant) Ms Prudence Gai Macsween (Third Defendant/Third Cross-Claimant) Representation: Counsel: First Plaintiff/Cross-Defendant (self-represented for the First and Second Plaintiffs) Ms A. Elizabeth (Defendants/Cross-Claimants)