New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Guarantee formalities

Legal area

Court

25 Jan 2018

NEW ZEALAND LIFE CARE LIMITED v OFFICIAL ASSIGNEE [2018] NZHC 17

Citation

[2018] NZHC 17
Court

High Court

On the balance of probabilities the court accepted that Harman gave an oral guarantee in 2005 but that guarantee was unenforceable because it did not comply with the required formalities (no signed note or memorandum and, for post-2008 law, no written signed guarantee under s27); no enforceable guarantee was established in 2008; post-adjudication affidavits by the bankrupt do not bind the Official Assignee; therefore the claimant's debt is not a provable enforceable debt and the Official Assignee's rejection is affirmed.
7 Jun 2012

NORTHCOTT AND NORTHCOTT V DAVIDSON HC WHA CIV-2012-488-97

Citation

openlaw-e1ddae19_24d1_44df_9172_28b044a7fb48.pdf
Court

High Court

The application for summary judgment was dismissed because the defendant raised arguable defences: the purported guarantee did not satisfy s27 Property Law Act 2007 as the guarantee document was unsigned by the guarantor and the covering letter bearing the defendant's signature was not part of the contractual guarantee; the authenticated signature fiction could not be used to avoid the clear statutory requirement; promissory estoppel did not plainly establish the necessary additional assurance, reliance and detriment on the available evidence; therefore summary judgment could not be granted.