Nu Line Construction Group Pty Ltd v Fowler (aka Grippaudo)

In this case, Nu Line Construction Group Pty Ltd sought restitution from Fowler, also known as Grippaudo, for payments made during failed negotiations for the sale of land in 2000. The parties disputed whether the payments made by an individual director of the plaintiff to or on behalf of the defendants were on behalf of the plaintiff company and whether they were payments towards the purchase price or in consideration of the purchase price. The plaintiff argued that the payments were made in consideration of the purchase price, specifically for the defendants keeping the land off the market. The court found that the claim for money had and received based on the failure of consideration was established. However, the court also held that the consideration for the money paid to and on behalf of the defendants failed when the negotiations ceased in mid-2002.

The court determined that the restitutionary interest accrued from the date the consideration failed, not from the date the money was paid. Additionally, the court addressed the statutory limitation defence under the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW). It held that the cause of action accrued when the contemplated sale failed to materialise in mid-2002. Since the proceedings were not commenced until September 2008, the claim was deemed statute-barred. The court also considered the defence of unclean hands, which was not pleaded by the defendants. The court opined that the defence, if raised, would have failed due to insufficient evidence of improper conduct and no immediate and necessary relation to the relief sought. There was no finding of laches.