Makeig v Tucun [2009] NSWDC 208

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: Makeig v Tucun [2009] NSWDC 208

JUDGMENT DATE: 22 May 2009

JURISDICTION: District Court of New South Wales

JUDGMENT OF: Cogswell SC DCJ

DECISION: Verdict and judgment for the defendants.

CATCHWORDS: CIVIL LAW - judgment - contract - promissory estoppel - quantum meruit

LEGISLATION CITED: Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 R 42.15

Brenner v First Artists Management Pty Ltd [1993] 2 VR 221 CASES CITED: Franks v Equitiloan Securities Pty Limited [2008] NSWSC 33 Lumbers v W Cook Builders Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (2008) 232 CLR 635 Waltons Stores (Interstate) Limited v Maher (1988) 164 CLR 387

TEXTS CITED: Restitution and Quasi-Contract

Peter Makeig PARTIES: Tugomir Tucun Stephanie Tucun Stephanie Tucun

FILE NUMBER(S): 5357/07

JUDGMENT

1. Mr and Mrs Tucun owned a house in Gordon. One day Mr Makeig did a leaflet drop in their street. It was about owners developing their properties in conjunction with Mr Makeig. Mr Makeig and Mr and Mrs Tucun had discussions about the Tucuns' property. The discussions lasted for some months and indeed years. They were accompanied by a good deal of correspondence, mostly from Mr Makeig to the Tucuns.

2. Mr Makeig arranged for two development applications for the Tucuns' property to be approved by the local council. Now Mr Makeig is suing the Tucuns. He says the legally binding arrangement from the start was that he would do the work on the development of the Tucuns' property in exchange for a fee. That fee would be thirty percent of the amount by which the Tucuns' property increased in value as a result of the development consent. He says the property increased in value by $425,000 so that the Tucuns owe him thirty per cent of that, namely $127,500 which is the amount of his claim in this case.