New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Assignment of debt

Legal area

Court

1 Dec 2023

CRESCENT CONSTRUCTION LIMITED assignee of LUSCIOUS LIVING INTERNATIONAL LIMITED v SACHDEVA [2023] NZHC 3478

Citation

[2023] NZHC 3478
Court

High Court

The District Court erred in making the Official Assignee's consent a precondition for joinder; on the evidence and applying s17 and the principles in Clark v Libra, Crescent is entitled to be joined without proof of Official Assignee consent, Crescent had standing to appeal, and the one-day filing delay was properly enlarged given the circumstances and the appeal's merits.
2 Nov 2022

SRG GLOBAL REMEDIATION SERVICES (NZ) LIMITED v BODY CORPORATE 197281 [2022] NZCA 518

Citation

[2022] NZCA 518
Court

Court of Appeal

The Court held that under the Construction Contracts Act ss21–24 and s79 the Body Corporate had no arguable defence to recovery of debt based on duly issued final progress payment schedules; the High Court judge was correct to refuse to withhold entry of summary judgment but erred in staying enforcement—statutory context and evidence did not establish a real and substantial risk of miscarriage of justice; the arbitration clause in NZS 3910:s13 was no longer operative more than one month after issue of the Final Payment Schedule so mandatory referral to arbitration of the counterclaim was not…
12 Jul 2022

CARTERS BUILDING SUPPLIES LTD v BUDHIRAJA [2022] NZHC 1640

Citation

[2022] NZHC 1640
Court

High Court

Because the defendant had executed a guarantee making him liable as sole and principal debtor, the agreement and guarantee were validly assigned to Carters, the defendant was validly served by substituted service and took no steps or raised no reasonably arguable defence, the Court entered summary judgment for the plaintiff for the principal, accrued interest and enforcement costs and ordered contractual post‑judgment interest to continue accruing.
27 Jul 2021

90 NINE LTD v BROWN TROUT EUPHORIA LTD [2021] NZHC 1910

Citation

[2021] NZHC 1910
Court

High Court

Plaintiff was not entitled to solicitor-client costs because the notice of assignment conveyed only the existing debt and not any separate contractual right to indemnity costs; the Questionnaire did not clearly create an entitlement to solicitor-client costs and the assignor named in the assignment differed from the entity on the Questionnaire; plaintiff made a late unexplained change to seek indemnity costs after counsel representations induced reliance by defendant; exercising discretion, the Court refused indemnity costs and awarded only the previously claimed 2B scale costs of $3,346 and…
30 Mar 2021

NOUVELLE VIE TRUSTEE LTD v CLAYTON [2021] NZHC 687

Citation

[2021] NZHC 687
Court

High Court

Defendants were validly served, filed no defence and presented no arguable defence to the debt claim; accordingly summary judgment was proper and judgment was entered for the plaintiff for the principal, accrued interest and contractual costs.
25 Nov 2020

MORISON v SAHA [2020] NZHC 3123

Citation

[2020] NZHC 3123
Court

High Court

Although the settled accounts established the partnership debt, the singular treatment of the appellant in the settlement deeds and the existence of a separate deed limiting recovery to $195,000 raised factual issues about the deeds' context and effect that could not properly be resolved on summary judgment; accordingly summary judgment was inappropriate and the District Court judgment was quashed and remitted for trial.
3 Sept 2020

SHED4 TRADING COMPANY LIMITED v SANSON [2020] NZHC 2363

Citation

[2020] NZHC 2363
Court

High Court

Because Shed4's claim in the liquidation depends on written deeds of assignment as the sole evidence of assignment, the liquidators and the court are entitled to see the deeds in full to assess enforceability; statutory powers (ss 266 and 304) and the court's discovery jurisdiction justify an order for production of the unredacted deeds, subject to confidentiality protections offered by the liquidators.
30 Aug 2019

RFD FINANCE LIMITED v FTG SECURITIES LIMITED [2019] NZHC 2157

Citation

[2019] NZHC 2157
Court

High Court

The discovery orders were rescinded because they were made without the factual basis that RFD and FTG were parties to the Walker proceeding and without evidence of control over the Walker documents; receivers were granted leave to make a formal application for discovery (including non-party discovery) supported by affidavit evidence or to use established avenues (access to court file); leave to file the fourth amended statement of claim deleting paragraph 8 was granted because the amendment narrows the issues, does not cause significant prejudice or delay, and is in the interests of justice,…
12 Aug 2019

THE OFFICIAL ASSIGNEE v CARRIM [2019] NZHC 1948

Citation

[2019] NZHC 1948
Court

High Court

Failure by Ms Carrim to procure the assignment required by clause 2(b) within the agreed timeframe constituted a breach of the settlement agreement; because no completed assignment for a sum certain existed she could not claim credit and remained liable for the residual amount, entitling the Official Assignee to judgment on the admission together with interest and costs.
12 Jul 2019

UTATAO v BISHOP WARDEN LTD [2019] NZHC 1633

Citation

[2019] NZHC 1633
Court

High Court

On an objective construction of the short form agreements (including the sub‑heading designations above the signatures and clauses 8–8.3), the appellant signed in a dual capacity including as a personal guarantor; the deed of assignment transferred the legal and beneficial interest in the debts and was valid under the Property Law Act; there was no real defence to the respondent's claim so summary judgment was properly granted and the appeal was dismissed.