In a recent appeal from the District Court, the High Court has confirmed that unit-owners in Body Corporates cannot refuse to pay portions of the levies because they do not agree with the purpose for which levies have been struck.
OWNERS’ REPAIR RIGHTS TRUMPED BY BODY CORPORATE’S
UNIT OWNERS STUCK WITH UNEVEN DIVISION OF PRIVATE/COMMON PROPERTY
In Body Corporate 204299 & Sayer v Whyte & Ors [2016] NZHC 1164 the High Court held that where the division of property between private and common property in a body corporate complex are ‘skewed’ in favour of some owners, the court will not intervene to ameliorate its effect on other owners when the complex is being repaired, as to do so would disturb the contractual rights which the owners acquired when buying into a unit title development.
Supreme Court to determine Ross Asset Management investor's appeal against ruling to repay profits but not principal to the liquidator
Deadline For Leaky Homeowners Looms
Can a lawyer be liable to someone other than a client?
Doh! Read the contract before you sign it!
A recent decision in the High Court in Rotorua illustrates the importance of reading contractual documents prior to signing them. A drilling company was held bound by the terms of an exclusion clause in a contract with a supplier preventing it from recovering all of its losses alleged caused by the supplier negligently carrying out repair work to drilling equipment.
Beating the long-stop?
In a recent decision (Minister of Education & Ors v Carter Holt Harvey Limited [2014] NZHC 681 (4 April 2014) the High Court allowed leaky building claims against a manufacturer of a cladding system to continue to trial even though the claims related to buildings constructed ten years before the issue of proceedings. (PDF)
Government’s Financial Assistance Package falls well short
A recent report on National Radio confirmed that the government’s Financial Assistance Package (“FAP”) to leaky home owners has failed to make even a small dent in the number of leaky homes.
The FAP was established in 2011 as a repair scheme enabling leaky home owners to access funds from the government and participating territorial authorities to fix their homes.
Sole Practice In The Big Smoke
When one thinks of lawyers working from the imposing ridge of The Terrace in Wellington, or the teeming metropolis of Auckland’s Queen Street, sole practitioners are possibly not the type that immediately spring to mind. (PDF)