New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Building report condition

Legal area

Court

13 Sept 2019

MATTHEW FRANCIS STRACK, TRACEY LEIGH STRACK AND WMC TRUSTEE LIMITED v DAVID HARVEY GREY [2019] NZCA 432

Citation

(2019) 20 NZCPR 408
Court

Court of Appeal

Respondent failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that he could not have obtained finance; he did not take reasonable steps (no loan application, no market testing, no mortgage broker or other lenders approached, did not seek vendor finance); accordingly damages are assessed on the ordinary expectation measure and respondent must pay $150,000 (difference between contract price and resale price).
31 May 2018

STRACK & ORS v GREY [2018] NZHC 1254

Citation

(2018) 19 NZCPR 687
Court

High Court

Clause 9.3 requires a written building report sufficient to permit an objective property‑specific assessment; defendant cancelled before obtaining an adequate written report and the Linwood email was insufficient to discharge clause 9.3; that conduct amounted to repudiatory breach entitling vendors to cancel; vendors proved breach but not loss because defendant failed to prove he would have obtained finance, so damages limited to nominal $100.
29 Jul 2014

SAGAR PROPERTIES LIMITED v TROPICAL ORIGIN LIMITED [2014] NZHC 1771

Citation

[2014] NZHC 1771
Court

High Court

The purchaser obtained the Building Report within the contractual timeframe and the purchaser's 1:16pm email on 9 May 2014 constituted sufficient notice of fulfilment (and was acknowledged by the vendor's solicitor at 4:53pm), therefore the vendor's later faxed cancellation of 12 May 2014 was ineffective and the caveat was maintainable.

New Zealand Case Law

MATTHEW FRANCIS STRACK, TRACEY LEIGH STRACK AND WMC TRUSTEE LIMITED v DAVID HARVEY GREY [2019] NZCA 432

STRACK & ORS v GREY [2018] NZHC 1254

SAGAR PROPERTIES LIMITED v TROPICAL ORIGIN LIMITED [2014] NZHC 1771