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Patroni v Conlan

Patroni v Conlan

Case [2004] WASC 16 12 February 2004

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PATRONI -v- CONLAN [2004] WASC 16

Jurisdiction:	SUPREME COURT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA	Citation No:	[2004] WASC 16
Case No:	CIV:1556/2003	Heard:	30 SEPTEMBER & 26 NOVEMBER 2003
Coram:	PULLIN J	Delivered:	12/02/04
No of pages:	8	Judgment Part:	1 of 1
Result:	Summary judgment for the plaintiff
Category:	B
PDF Version

Parties:	PETER ROMOLO PATRONI MARK ANTHONY CONLAN
Catchwords:	Equity Claim in detinue for delivery up of mortgage document Whether trustee seeking to restore misappropriated trust funds entitled to hold the mortgage document Whether plaintiff a bona fide purchaser for value Whether plaintiff may acquire legal title after notice of breach of trust
Legislation:	Nil
Case References:	Lane v Conlan [2004] WASC 15 McKeown v Cavalier Yachts Pty Ltd (1988) 13 NSWLR 303 Park v Dunn [1916] NZLR 761 Redman v Permanent Trustee Co of New South Wales Ltd (1916) 22 CLR 84 Associated Alloys Pty Ltd v ACN 001 452 106 Pty Ltd (2000) 202 CLR 588 Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Rowena Nominees Pty Ltd [2003] WASC 106 Backstop Nominees Pty Ltd v Goscor Pty Ltd [1990] VR 468 Barlow Clowes International Ltd (in liq) v Vaughan [1992] 4 All ER 22 Bass v Permanent Trustee Co Ltd (1999) 198 CLR 334 Birch v Ellames (1794) 2 Anst 427 Bishopsgate Investment Management Ltd (in liq) v Homan [1995] Ch 211 Bolwell Fibreglass Pty Ltd v Foley [1984] VR 97 Borden (UK) Ltd v Scottish Timber Products Ltd [1981] Ch 25 Boscawen v Bajwa [1996] 1 WLR 328 Conlan v Registrar of Titles (2001) 24 WAR 299 Cordinup Resorts Pty Ltd v Terana Holdings Pty Ltd (1997) 143 FLR 18 Dean & Westham Holdings Pty Ltd v Lloyd (1991) 3 WAR 235 Dean v Lloyd [1990] WAR 42 Eccles v Hall (1895) 13 NZLR 433 Foskett v McKeown [1998] Ch 265 Foskett v McKeown [2001] 1 AC 102 Frith v Cartland (1865) 2 Hem & M 417 Grugeon v Gerrard (1840) 4 Y & C Ex 119 Heartwood Nominees Pty Ltd v Oakleigh Acquisitions Pty Ltd [2003] WASC 12 In re Diplock [1948] Ch 465 John F Goulding Pty Ltd v Victorian Railways Commissioners (1932) 48 CLR 157 Monarch Petroleum NL v Citco Australia Petroleum Ltd [1986] WAR 310 Moscow Narodny Bank Ltd v Mosbert Finance (Aust) Pty Ltd [1976] WAR 109 Re Global Finance Group Pty Ltd; Ex parte Read (2002) 26 WAR 385 Re Goldcorp Exchange Ltd [1995] 1 AC 74 Re Oakleigh Acquisitions Pty Ltd (in liq) [2003] WASC 75 Ryan v O'Sullivan [1956] VLR 99 Space Investments Ltd v Canadian Imperial Bank Commerce Trust Co (Bahamas) [1986] 1 WLR 1072 Taylor v Blakelock (1886) 32 Ch D 560 Thorndike v Hunt (1859) DE G & J 563; 44 ER 1386 Trident General Insurance Co Ltd v McNiece Bros Pty Ltd (1988) 165 CLR 107 Wall v Cockerell (1863) 10 HL Cas 229; 11 ER 1013 Xenos v Wickham (1867) LR 2 HL 296 Young v Murphy [1996] 1 VR 279

JURISDICTION : SUPREME COURT…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

AGLC: Patroni v Conlan [2004] WASC 16
Case: [2004] WASC 16
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In the Supreme Court of Western Australia, the case of Patroni v Conlan [2004] WASC 16 involved a claim in detinue for the delivery of a mortgage document. The plaintiff, Peter Romolo Patroni, sought the return of a mortgage executed by Lawrence Peter Ferris and Mark Stephen Ferris in his favour. The defendant, Mark Anthony Conlan, was the liquidator and supervisor of Rowena Nominees Pty Ltd, a licensed finance broker that had misappropriated trust funds. The central legal issues revolved around whether the plaintiff, as a trustee seeking to restore misappropriated trust funds, was entitled to hold the mortgage document, whether the plaintiff was a bona fide purchaser for value, and whether the plaintiff could acquire legal title after notice of a breach of trust.

Pullin J addressed these issues by first confirming that the plaintiff had given valuable consideration for the mortgage, as the trust account never went into debit between the time the plaintiff paid $800,000 and the time $400,000 was paid to the Ferris'. The judge then considered whether the plaintiff could perfect his legal title despite having notice of the breach of trust after the event. The court held that once the $400,000 was advanced by Rowena to the Ferris' and the plaintiff had given value without notice of any breach of trust, Rowena held the mortgage document as an agent for the plaintiff. Therefore, the defendant, as Rowena's agent, was obligated to deliver the mortgage document to the plaintiff upon demand. The judge concluded that the plaintiff was a bona fide purchaser of the legal right to the mortgage without notice of any breach of trust and was entitled to obtain the mortgage document from the defendant.

The final orders of the court were that summary judgment be entered in favour of the plaintiff, requiring the defendant to deliver up the mortgage document to the plaintiff.

Orders