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Subrogation to the unpaid vendor’s lien
In Bank of Cyprus UK Ltd v Menelaou ([2015] UKSC 66) PM and DM sold property which was subject to a charge in favour of Bank of Cyprus UK Ltd (‘the Bank’). They contracted to purchase a new house using...
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The court’s power to vacate a lis pendens
In Join Win Holdings Ltd v City Target Ltd ([2015] HKEC 2477, CA) the first instance judge dismissed P’s claim for a declaration that it had entered into an oral contract for the acquisition of D1’s...
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Common intention constructive trust: the intention to create the trust cannot...
In Capehorn v Harris ([2015] EWCA Civ 955, CA (Eng)) C and H had been unmarried cohabitees but the relationship had come to an end. The question was whether H had a beneficial interest in property...
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Joint ownership of family home: presumption of equality and equitable accounting
In Chen lily v Yip Tsun Wah Alvan ([2015] HKEC 2611, CFI) C and Y were unmarried co-habitees of the flat acquired by them as their family home with a view to marriage. Title was in joint names and it...
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A lis pendens must affect land
In Luen Ford Industrial Co Ltd v Woo Ming Han Juliana ([2015] HKEC 2639, CFI) D alleged that her father had procured her late mother’s execution of a transfer of the mother’s shares in a company (‘the...
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Small House Policy: judicial review of a decision not to grant vehicular...
In Hung Hing v Director of Lands ([2015] 5 HKLRD 516, CA) the owners of land in the New Territories had applied to the District Lands Office (‘DLO’) for permission to build small houses on their...
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Break clause: implied term that rent paid in advance in respect of a period...
In Marks & Spencer plc v BNP Paribas Securities Services Trust Co (Jersey) Ltd ([2015] UKSC 72) BNP granted a lease to M & S. The lease contained a break clause. The lease required M & S to...
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Does acceptance of rent waive a continuing breach of covenant?
In Kwok Hon Shing v Happy Team (China) Ltd ([2015] HKEC 2038, LT) L granted T a four year lease of a unit in an industrial building. There were sub-lettings of part for residential purposes in breach...
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Penalty or pre-estimate of loss: an inadequate dichotomy.
In Cavendish Square Holding BV v Talal El Makdessi and Parking Eye limited v Beavis ([2015] UKSC 67]) the UK Supreme Court addressed fundamental issues concerning the law of penalties in two cases....
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Land Registration Ordinance: a lis pendens involves a claim to a proprietary...
In Wide Power Corp Ltd v Manhattan Court (IO) ([2015] 4 HKLRD 480, CFI) the incorporated owners of a building sought an injunction requiring an owner to remove unauthorised building works carried out...
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Charging order over share in the family home: striking the balance
In Melco Crown Gaming (Macau) Ltd v Wong Yam Tak ([2016] HKEC 237) title to the family home was in H’s name but W had an equal beneficial interest under a common intention constructive trust. M was...
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Common intention constructive trust: valuation outside the ‘domestic consumer...
In Erlam v Rahman ([2016] EWHC 111) E had the benefit of a charging order over a house in R’s sole name. R’s wife (‘W’) claimed that she had the benefit of a prior interest over the property by virtue...
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Mistaken belief that one is the owner or tenant is not fatal to an adverse...
In Cheung Kwong Yuen v Sun Hui Fang ([2016] 1 HKLRD 464, CA) C was the registered owner of one floor of a property and of the roof above it. S lived in a room on the roof. C had applied for an order...
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Contractual obligation to produce an architect’s certificate before...
In Guo Jianjun v Dragon Fame Investment Ltd ([2015] HKEC 1986, CA) S entered into an agreement to sell to P four office units (all on the same floor of the building). The agreement contemplated that...
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Acquiescence: Is a history of non-enforcement of DMC terms relevant?
In Freder Centre (IO) v Gringo Ltd ([2016] HKEC 418, CA) the owners of units in a commercial building placed a sign with a trade name on part of the external wall of the building. This was a breach of...
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Illegal sale of ding rights: Tinsley v Milligan re-affirmed
In Kan Wai Chung v Hau Wan Fai ([2016] HKLRD 632, CFI) developers entered into cooperation agreements with the plaintiffs (villagers with ding rights). The developers transferred title to parcels of...
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Proprietary estoppel: alleged representations made by a person who is dead at...
In Szeto Chak Mei v Chan Lam Shan ([2016] HKEC 482) P was the adminstratrix of her deceased father’s estate. The estate included a flat in which D1, the deceased’s daughter-in-law had lived for many...
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An express declaration of trust is conclusive in the absence of a vitiating...
In Pankhania v Chandegra ([2012] EWCA Civ 1438, CA (Eng)) title to a house was transferred into the joint names of P and C (an aunt and nephew). The transfer contained an express declaration of trust...
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There is an implied term that a sale of land is with vacant possession
In Wong Yuk Ying v Chan Pui Shan May ([2016] HKEC 537, CA) S1 agreed to sell a workshop to S2. S2 entered into a sub-sale agreement with P. The workshop was divided into three units and each unit was...
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Open contracts in Hong Kong
方燕卿 v 方坤培 ([2016] HKEC 740, CFI) concerned an oral agreement by a brother to sell a flat to his sister. The sister drafted a memorandum of the terms of the agreement and the brother signed it. The...
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