The Owners - Strata Plan No. 44999 v Premier Holdings Corp Pty Limited and Gregg Ritchie and Partners Pty Limited (No 2) [2012] NSWSC 303

The Owners - Strata Plan No. 44999 v Premier Holdings Corp Pty Limited and Gregg Ritchie and Partners Pty Limited (No 2) [2012] NSWSC 303

GRP did not demonstrate any reason to depart from the usual order that costs follow the event. The original contravention arose from Castle Pines Management Pty Limited's failure to hold a strata managing agent's licence, not from misconduct by the Owners Corporation; there was no basis to suggest the Owners Corporation was knowingly party to unlawful conduct; the restriction as to user did not alter that conclusion; GRP's bona fide purchaser contention lacked evidentiary basis; and the Owners Corporation also succeeded on the independent ground that the assignments were ineffective. Because GRP was joined only on 1 September 2011 and the First Defendant had not appeared or submitted, the...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
30 March 2012
Procedural Posture
Costs; Declarations Concerning Enforceability and Assignment of Management Agreement / Costs Determination and Final Orders Following Judgment
Outcome
Declarations made that the Management Agreement was and is unenforceable and that purported assignments were ineffective; costs ordered against the First Defendant and Second Defendant for specified periods.
Legal Topics
['discretion as to Costs' 'usual Order That Costs Follow the Event' 'unenforceable Management Agreement' 'assignment of Contractual Rights' 'strata Managing Agent Licence']
['costs' 'strata Law' 'property Law' 'contract Law'] ['discretion as to Costs' 'usual Order That Costs Follow the Event' 'unenforceable Management Agreement' 'assignment of Contractual Rights' 'strata Managing Agent Licence']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Costs; Declarations Concerning Enforceability and Assignment of Management Agreement / Costs Determination and Final Orders Following Judgment

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the Court should depart from the usual order as to costs under Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) r 42.1.' "Whether the Owners Corporation's conduct in entering the Management Agreement justified depriving it of costs." "Whether the First Defendant or Second Defendant should pay the Plaintiff's costs for different periods of the proceedings."]

Ratio Decidendi

GRP did not demonstrate any reason to depart from the usual order that costs follow the event. The original contravention arose from Castle Pines Management Pty Limited's failure to hold a strata managing agent's licence, not from misconduct by the Owners Corporation; there was no basis to suggest the Owners Corporation was knowingly party to unlawful conduct; the restriction as to user did not alter that conclusion; GRP's bona fide purchaser contention lacked evidentiary basis; and the Owners Corporation also succeeded on the independent ground that the assignments were ineffective. Because GRP was joined only on 1 September 2011 and the First Defendant had not appeared or submitted, the...

Court Disposition

Declarations made that the Management Agreement was and is unenforceable and that purported assignments were ineffective; costs ordered against the First Defendant and Second Defendant for specified periods.

Orders

  • ['DECLARES that the Management Agreement dated 31 October 1996 ("Management Agreement") between the Plaintiff and Castle Pines Management Pty Limited was and is unenforceable.' 'DECLARES that the purported assignments of the rights under the Management Agreement to the First Defendant and the Second Defendant were...