Luben Petkovski v Kai Yin Huang [2018] NSWSC 1667

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Luben Petkovski v Kai Yin Huang [2018] NSWSC 1667 Hearing dates: 15, 21-24, 28-29 August 2017; written submissions completed on 12 September 2017 Date of orders: 30 November 2018 Decision date: 30 November 2018 Jurisdiction: Equity Before: Slattery J Decision: Unconscionable conduct, economic duress, and misleading or deceptive conduct found on the Cross Claim. Trespass, nuisance and encroachment findings made. Relief hearing ordered to determine loss and damage suffered by the cross-claimants. Catchwords: UNCONSCIONABLE CONDUCT AND ECONOMIC DURESS – the cross-claimants contracted to acquire from a third party an option to purchase a block of subdivisible land – one of the plaintiffs (also a cross-defendant), the agent acting for the vendor on the sale, applied pressure to the cross-claimants to allow him and persons associated with him to take an interest in the land to be purchased and to acquire three of the six lots into which the land was proposed to be subdivided – there was no evidence that this conduct of the first plaintiff/first cross defendant in privately dealing with the purchasers was disclosed to the vendor, for whom he was acting as agent – as a result of the agent's conduct the cross-claimants were forced to sign deeds of trust of their interest in the pre-subdivided property, committing three of the six proposed lots in the subdivision to be acquired by the plaintiffs, not by the cross-claimants – whether the deeds of trust could be set aside by reason of the agent's said conduct – whether economic duress is established – whether three of the six properties would have been liable to be reconveyed to the cross-claimants, or in lieu of reconveyance what damages or equitable compensation should be paid to the cross-claimants.