Re: Aust. Builders' Corp P/L & Turner

The Supreme Court of Queensland heard an application to set aside a caveat lodged by Australian Builders' Corporation Pty Ltd and Edward Rex Turner. The applicants sought to prohibit the registration of any instruments except a transfer from Garden City Christian Church Property Holdings Ltd to Air Travel International Pty Ltd. The respondents argued that the applicants had a caveatable interest and that the caveat was not too wide in its application. The court was required to determine whether the applicants had a caveatable interest and whether the caveat was too wide in its application.

The court found that there were serious questions to be tried regarding the existence of an agreement between the parties and the capacity in which any work done by the applicants was performed. The court also found that there were serious questions to be tried regarding whether the agreement was void under the Land Sales Act 1984 and whether the applicants had complied with the requirements of the Property Law Act 1974. The court further found that there were serious questions to be tried regarding whether the agreement was uncertain and whether the land referred to in the agreement could be identified with the caveated lots.

The court concluded that there was a serious question to be tried whether there was an agreement that entitled the applicants to an interest in the land. The court also concluded that there was a serious question to be tried whether the land subject to the caveat was held on trust for the applicants. The court held that the balance of convenience favoured the applicants and that the caveat should not be set aside. However, the court ordered that the application to remove the caveat be dismissed upon the respondents giving an undertaking as to damages and amending the caveat to allow registration of documents necessary for the agreement to borrow to proceed.

The court ordered that the application to remove the caveat be dismissed upon the respondents giving the usual undertaking as to damages. The court also ordered that upon an applicant or the applicants entering into an agreement to borrow a sum not exceeding the sum of $600,000 and upon providing to the caveators sufficient proof that such an agreement has been made and that it is a term or condition of the agreement that the lands subject to the caveat be encumbered for the purpose of securing the loan and upon the said applicant or applicants undertaking to apply the sum borrowed to improvement of the lands subject to the caveat and to no other purpose without the prior consent in writing of the caveators, the caveators shall within 21 days of sufficient proof of the aforesaid agreement and the said term or condition being provided to them amend the caveat to enable registration of documents necessary for the agreement to borrow to proceed. The costs of and incidental to the application were reserved.