Subject Title Land and Property LawSubject Code PRO210
Assessment Title Take Home Exam (Official)
Learning Outcome/s a, b, c, d
Assessment type (group or individual) Individual
Weighting 50%
Word count 2000 words
Class submission Lecture ? Tutorial ?
Submission type Paper copy ? Turnitin v
Assessment instructions
Please complete ALL questions in a word document and then upload your document to Turnitin. Each question should be clearly labelled.
Please ensure you comply with the ICMS Academic Integrity Policy when undertaking the assessment. You should also complete the ICMS cover page confirming your compliance with the academic integrity policies including the rules on plagiarism. Please ensure you strictly adhere to the word count.
If using sources, you MUST reference as per the Style Guide.
There are 2 sections for this assessment:
PART A. 3 Long Answers (30 marks)
PART C. 1 Case Study (20 marks)
TOTAL MARKS = 50
PART A (30 MARKS IN TOTAL)
3 LONG ANSWERS
Question 1: (10 marks)
An auctioneer at two different points in the auction acknowledges two bids in order to encourage further bidding. In fact these two bids were not made. Is the auctioneer permitted to do this? Explain the legal position here.
Question 2: (10 marks)
Mike wishes to sell Bob a block of land which is surrounded by freehold land owned by three other persons with one other lot owned by Mike which is adjacent to a public road. Bob is willing to purchase the land. What must Bob do to protect his access to his property? Your answer should include how Bob would undertake this step and what would need to be established.
Question 3: (10 marks)
Mr Hunter leaves his Certificate of Title in safe custody with his solicitor, Mr Matthews, along with an executed Transfer. The name has been left blank on the transfer. Mr Matthews convinces a buyer to purchase the property. The property is worth $4.5 million but Mr Matthews sells it to Mr Smith for $4 million to get his hands on the cash. He promptly flees overseas. Mr Smith does not question the price but jumps at the opportunity to buy the property cheaply. He then on-sells the property to Mr Jones.
Explain Mr Hunter’s causes of action in this case against any of the other parties. In addition, explain any rights which he has lost.
PART B (20 MARKS IN TOTAL)
1 CASE STUDY
Question 4:
Tom and Emma have been married for 15 years. They have 3 children, Jane (10), Jimmy (8) and Jack (6). In October 2016, Tom and Emma bought an investment property 3 hours south of Sydney in Kiama (“the Kiama Property”). The total purchase price for the Kiama Property was $750,000. Both Tom and Emma contributed their joint savings in the sum of $200,000 to the purchase price. Their mutual friend, Bob lent them the sum of $100,000 towards the purchase price on 10 October 2016 (“Bob’s Mortgage”). Bob never registered the mortgage as he knew that eventually he would be paid back by Tom and Emma. They had been friends for many years. The balance of the purchase price was funded by a registered loan from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)(“CBA Mortgage”) dated 11 October 2016.
On 5 March 2017, Tom and Emma got into financial difficulties and asked their friend Jane to lend them the sum of $50,000. Jane agreed provided the contract stated that the Kiama Property was given as security. The contract was not in registrable form. On 10 March 2017, the contract was signed and the sum of $50,000 was provided by Jane to Tom and Emma (-Jane’s Mortgage-).
The title of the Property and the CBA Mortgage was in Emma’s name only. Tom was unable to obtain secured finance in his own name having previously declared himself bankrupt in 2015. It was Tom and Emma’s plan to eventually retire, move out of Sydney and live in the Kiama Property. They had both been under a lot of financial stress and knew that eventually it would be best to move out of Sydney once their children were a little bit older. Just recently however, Tom has found out that Emma plans to leave the relationship as she has a new partner, Bill. Bill and Emma and been in a relationship for the past few months behind Tom’s back. Tom also hears through mutual friends that Emma has already engaged the services of a real estate agent and plans to sell the Kiama property as fast as she can. She
wants to take all of the funds from the sale and start a new life. Understandable Tom is very concerned about protecting his interest in the Kiama Property.
You are a Property Lawyer and Tom makes an appointment to see you for the following information and advice:
a. Advise Tom on what steps, if any, you can take on his behalf to protect his own interest in the Kiama Property. Give Tom as much information as possible so he understands the process.
b. Advise Tom exactly how you will undertake the step(s) you have identified in the above.
c. Assuming the Kiama property is sold, explain to Tom the order in which the mortgages will be discharged and why.
d. Assuming the Kiama property is sold, explain to Tom the order in which the sale proceeds will be disbursed citing any relevant legislation.