Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Interpretation of deed of mutual covenant

Legal area

Court

28 Jan 2026

LI CHUN BON AND ANOTHER v. CHINA MOBILE HONG KONG COMPANY LTD

Citation

[2026] HKCA 88
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACV405/2024

The Disputed Parts were not specified or designated in the registered Assignment or DMC for exclusive use of the 2/F owner; Schedule 1 of the BMO lists parapet walls and walls enclosing staircases as common parts and in the absence of a relevant and effective specification/designation the statutory default applies; extrinsic evidence and subsequent conduct are inadmissible to alter that construction; accordingly the defendant had trespassed and the plaintiffs are entitled to the assessed damages awarded by the Court of Appeal.
15 Sept 2025

THE INCORPORATED OWNERS OF THE SEA RANCH v. HOLIDAY RESORTS (H.K.) LTD

Citation

[2025] HKDC 1572
Court

District Court
Case number

DCMP1289/2023

The DMC must be read together with the SDMC executed contemporaneously; the SDMC created notional subdivision of undivided shares into terms and imposed direct liability on Term Owners for their portions under clause 8(a)(i); therefore Holiday Resorts was not liable as sole owner for the full outstanding management fees and contributions for the five apartments and the Memoranda of Charge purporting to charge Holiday Resorts as sole owner were invalid; IO's applications for sale were dismissed and charges must be removed.
22 Nov 2024

LANDTOWN GARDEN LTD v. THE INCORPORATED OWNERS OF FU NING GARDEN

Citation

[2024] HKDC 1920
Court

District Court
Case number

DCCJ569/2019

Court found water seepage occurred and objective ponding tests established the Rooftop (excluding the Expansion Joint and Skylights which were not tested) and the Membrane as sources at specified locations; on construction of the DMC and 1990 Assignment the Rooftop, Membrane, Water Tank and Pipes were held to be owned by the plaintiff; because the plaintiff owned those parts it had the maintenance duty under the DMC and was liable for unauthorised works and removal of the Water Tank and Pipes; consequentially the plaintiff's action was dismissed and the defendant's counterclaim for removal wa…
2 Nov 2023

LI CHUN BON AND ANOTHER v. CHINA MOBILE HONG KONG CO LTD

Citation

[2023] HKDC 1533
Court

District Court
Case number

DCCJ617/2017

The 2/F Assignment and DMC, properly construed, grant the 2/F Owner exclusive use of the Main Roof, and the natural meaning of 'Main Roof' includes the inner side of the parapet walls and the inner side of the vertical wall of the staircase hood; the defendant had permission from the 2/F Owner to install antenna equipment on those parts and therefore did not commit trespass; accordingly the plaintiffs' grounds of appeal lack a reasonable prospect of success and leave to appeal is refused.
2 May 2023

THE INCORPORATED OWNERS OF KAM TAO, NGAN TAO AND HOI TAO BUILDINGS 對 FAIR CHARTER INVESTMENTS LTD及另三十四人

Citation

[2023] HKLdT 32
Court

Lands Tribunal
Case number

LDBM291/2019

Tribunal concluded clause 4(f)(I)(iv) of the DMC requires apportionment in proportion to the number of units owned and that 'units' in context means those units required to pay management fees (ground-floor shops and seventh-to-top-floor residential units); accordingly the 27/10 owners' resolution adopting undivided shares was contrary to the DMC and invalid; parking-passage works for floors 2–6 are to be borne by car-park owners under clause 17 and must be deducted before apportionment by unit-count; application to impose a charge on owners' undivided shares for unpaid contributions was refu…
17 Feb 2023

FINE RIGHT ENTERPRISE LTD v. WEALTH FINE LTD

Citation

[2023] HKCFI 452
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCA524/2018

Application to vary the Costs Order Nisi dismissed; the original Costs Order Nisi remains appropriate because no party emerged as an overall winner, plaintiff must notionally bear the majority of costs of its injunction claim and defendant's counterclaim while defendant bears part of the costs of plaintiff's monetary claim up to 25 March 2019, and the respective liabilities broadly offset each other in the round.
27 May 2021

SAM WOO MARINE WORKS LTD v. THE INCORPORATED OWNERS OF PO HANG BUILDING

Citation

[2021] HKLdT 35
Court

Lands Tribunal
Case number

LDBM252/2014

The Tribunal adopted the prior construction that Clauses 3(i) and 3(j) relate to total monthly payments by all owners and that the obligation to contribute is collective; Sam Woo's construction requiring strict class-level apportionment and insufficiency as a perpetual precondition was rejected as inconsistent with the DMC and impracticable; prior decision DCCJ 1271/2011 is applicable and the intended appeal has no reasonable prospect of success, therefore leave to appeal is refused.
27 May 2021

THE INCORPORATED OWNERS OF PO HANG BUILDING v. SAM WOO MARINE WORKS LTD

Citation

[2021] HKLdT 35
Court

Lands Tribunal
Case number

LDBM255/2018

Leave to appeal was refused because the proposed grounds lacked a reasonable prospect of success; the Tribunal accepted the prior construction that Clause 3(i) refers to total monthly payments by all owners and rejected the contention that surplus in a class account prevents IO from levying contributions or revised monthly payments; Sam Woo's interpretation would require impermissible rewriting of the DMC and is unarguable.
14 Dec 2018

THE INCORPORATED OWNERS OF GRANDMARK v. SINO CHANNEL HOLDINGS LTD

Citation

[2018] HKLdT 95
Court

Lands Tribunal
Case number

LDBM117/2016

The Tribunal held that on a purposive, contextual construction of the DMC and Walls Assignment, taking account of the factual matrix and the Developer's commercial objective, the term "exterior side walls" includes all four exterior sides of the building including the front and rear facades; Sino Channel is entitled to the exclusive use, occupation and enjoyment of those walls and the injunction sought against the 3/F Owner is granted.
29 Jun 2018

李鑫平對華鴻大樓業主立案法團

Citation

[2018] HKLdT 47
Court

Lands Tribunal
Case number

LDBM229/2017

The current 1st‑floor C unit corresponds to the former C and D units and is liable for two units' management fees; the applicant's claim in LDBM229/2017 is dismissed and the applicant in LDBM39/2018 succeeds and is entitled to recover HKD8,425 with interest and costs as ordered.