Schenk v ACN 081 123 140 Pty Ltd

In Schenk v ACN 081 123 140 Pty Ltd, the plaintiff, Schenk, sought to rescind a contract for the sale of a home unit under construction. The defendant, ACN 081 123 140 Pty Ltd, had agreed to sell a unit in a proposed Strata Plan, which had not yet been built. The contract contained a special condition that granted the vendor the right to rescind if the Strata Plan was not registered by 16 March 2001. This date was subsequently extended to 15 August 2001 due to delays. After this date, the vendor rescinded the contract. The plaintiff contended that the rescission was invalid because it was based on the non-registration of the Strata Plan, which was due to the vendor's own breaches of contract.

The court had to determine whether the rescission was valid and if the plaintiff was entitled to rescind the contract. The primary legal issues were whether the vendor's right to rescind was validly exercised and whether the non-registration of the Strata Plan was due to the vendor's own breaches. The court found that the vendor had breached the contract by failing to sign a building contract until March 2001, which was after the main building work had commenced in December 2000. The court also found that the registration of the Strata Plan was expected in March 2002, and that the non-registration was caused by the vendor's breaches of contract. Therefore, the purported rescission was not effective.

The court concluded that the vendor's right to rescind was invalid, and the rescission was not effective. The court ordered that the contract for the sale of the unit should proceed as per its original terms. The court also found that the plaintiff was not entitled to rescind the contract, and the defendant was entitled to specific performance of the contract.