In 1989 when Westpac begun possession proceedings the amount owing under the mortgage was $197,000. The borrowers (a husband and wife) raised various defenses (including set-off, Contracts Review Act and Trade Practices Act) and fought tooth and nail all the way to the High Court in 2001. The bank won and the final indebtedness (including …
This case involved allegations of a forgery. The borrowers cross-claimed against their solicitor and Lawcover denied him cover on the ground of fraud. He cross-claimed against Lawcover and on the second day of the trial sought to amend his pleading to allege fraud against one of the borrowers. The judge denied leave on the following …
In this case the borrowers were three brothers who mortgaged their jointly-owned property. Two of the brothers alleged that the third brother (who is bankrupt) forged their signature. One of them had a very convincing alibi. He pointed out that at the time the document was executed he was in custody in Lebanon in respect …
Permanent Custodians v Tony Geagea [2010] NSWSC 117 Read More »
This case involved a son who was a cocaine trafficker and erstwhile surfing entrepreneur who borrowed on his father’s house to fund his “business”. Although he lived at home, his father claimed he thought the son had “assets” which would cover the loan should there ever be a problem. The son’s business got into difficulties …
In this case Provident Capital loaned $6.9 million for a development project. Before doing so it required “satisfactory evidence that all 6 lots had been pre-sold on unconditional contracts with a 10% deposit.” The developers hit upon a novel way to satisfy this condition. They paid the 10% deposits, which totalled $1,120,000, themselves using trade …
A young man was charged with embezzling $485,000. He had a meeting with his lawyer and they discussed the fact that he owed her $100,000 legal fees for defending him from the criminal charges. The lawyer suggested that he obtain finance and referred him to a friendly finance broker. Unfortunately, the young man had no …
La Trobe Asset Management v Hajar [2009] NSWSC 1413 Read More »
In this case the borrower, Alexander Kotevski, an unemployed pensioner aged 78 claimed, that Perpetual Trustee’s agent, Good Home Loans Pty Ltd, completed and submitted the loan application to Perpetual, without his authority and without making enquiries as to his ability to repay the loan in accordance with its terms. He also claimed the loan …
Perpetual Trustee Company v Kotevski [2009] NSWSC 954 Read More »
In this case some Arab immigrants were persuaded by friends and acquaintances to invest in a fraudulent scheme run by the now-incarcerated Karl Suleiman. They failed in their Contracts Review Act claim to have the loan set aside, however they succeeded in a cross-claim against the solicitor who rendered independent legal advice. The thrust of …
In this case the son had a business arranging surfing tours in Indonesia. He asked his father to guarantee the debts of the business. The father claimed he was happy to do so because the son told him that he had assets (interests in boats and a share in property) which exceeded the debt and …
This case involved a forged mortgage. The owner of the mortgaged property discovered that his defacto son-in-law had mortgaged his house to secure several hire-purchase agreements. The hire-purchase agreements were for trucks and trailers for the defacto-son-in-law’s prime mover business. Claim by the lender for possession of the land The million dollar question was whether …
Australian Regional Credit v Mula [2009] NSWSC 325 Read More »
