The Owners - Strata Plan No 58087 v Matthews - [2015] NSWSC 1906

Supreme Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: The Owners – Strata Plan No 58087 v Matthews [2015] NSWSC 1906
Hearing dates: 23 November 2015
Decision date: 15 December 2015
Jurisdiction: Equity - Corporations List
Before: Black J
Decision:
The Notice of Motion dated 24 July 2015 should be dismissed with costs.

Catchwords: REAL PROPERTY – strata title – management and control – where lot owner and Owners Corporation negotiated to settle existing proceedings between them – where ‘agreement in principle’ was reached in correspondence – where agreement was subject to formal resolutions being passed at general meeting – whether a binding agreement existed.
Legislation Cited: - Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) s 73
- Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) s 96
- Strata Schemes Management Act 1996 (NSW) ss 12, 13, 16, 21, 21(1), 21(2), 21(4), 28
Cases Cited: - 2 Elizabeth Bay Road Pty Ltd v The Owners – Strata Plan No 73943 [2014] NSWCA 409; (2014) 88 NSWLR 488
- Baulkham Hills Private Hospital Pty Ltd v GR Securities Pty Ltd (1986) 40 NSWLR 622
- Cacace v Bayside Operations Pty Ltd [2006] NSWSC 572
- Calderbank v Calderbank [1975] 3 All ER 333
- Cleary v Masterton [1999] NSWSC 207
- Grave v Blazevic Holdings Pty Ltd [2012] NSWCA 329
- Masters v Cameron [1954] HCA 72; (1954) 91 CLR 353
- Pavlovic v Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd [2015] NSWCA 313
- Waldorf Apartment Hotel, The Entrance Pty Ltd v Owners Corp Strata Plan 71623 [2009] NSWSC 882
Category: Procedural and other rulings
Parties: The Owners – Strata Plan 58087 (Plaintiff)
Dennis Raymond Matthews (Defendant)
Representation:
Counsel:
E. Peden (Plaintiff)
S. Nixon/A. Jordan (Defendant)
Solicitors:
Grace Lawyers (Plaintiff)
Clayton Utz (Defendant)

File Number(s): 2013/260115

Judgment

By Notice of Motion filed on 24 July 2015, the Plaintiff, The Owners – Strata Plan No 58087 (“Owners Corporation”) seeks a declaration under s 73 of the Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW) that the Owners Corporation and the Defendant, Mr Dennis Matthews, entered into a binding settlement agreement on the terms contained in a Deed of Settlement attached to an email dated 5 June 2015 from Owner Corporation’s solicitors to Mr Matthews’ solicitors and an order that the Owners Corporation and Mr Matthews specifically perform the settlement deed. That document was a draft deed of settlement which has not subsequently been approved by either the Owners Corporation or Mr Matthews and, as Mr Matthews points out, the Owners Corporation did not advance submissions in support of the contention that there was a binding agreement on the terms of the draft deed. I understand the claim on that basis is not pressed, and it could not have succeeded had it been pressed where neither party had adopted that draft deed.
Alternatively, the Owners Corporation seeks a declaration under s 73 of the Civil Procedure Act that the Owners Corporation and Mr Matthews entered into a binding settlement agreement on the terms contained in a letter dated…

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

Case: [2015] NSWSC 1906
Decision Date: 15 December 2015

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The case involved a dispute between the Owners Corporation of Strata Plan No 58087 and a lot owner, Matthews. The Owners Corporation sought a declaration that the correspondence between the parties did not constitute a binding agreement, and that Matthews was liable to pay the legal costs incurred by the Corporation in defending the proceedings. The case was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The central legal issue was whether an agreement in principle reached through correspondence between the parties constituted a binding contract. The court had to consider the nature of the correspondence and whether it contained all the essential terms of a contract. Additionally, the court had to determine whether the agreement was subject to certain conditions being met, such as formal resolutions being passed at a general meeting.

The court held that the correspondence between the parties did not constitute a binding agreement. The court found that while the parties had reached an agreement in principle, it was subject to certain conditions being met, such as formal resolutions being passed at a general meeting. The court held that the agreement was not binding until these conditions were met. The court also found that Matthews was liable to pay the legal costs incurred by the Owners Corporation in defending the proceedings.

The court made a declaration that the correspondence between the parties did not constitute a binding agreement. The court also ordered Matthews to pay the legal costs incurred by the Owners Corporation in defending the proceedings. The court did not order any other remedies.

Orders