High Court affirmed the decisions of the Sessions Court in Country Garden Pacificview Sdn Bhd v. Wong Yong Fook & Anor

“A purchaser cannot make use of its own breach to try and invalidate an SPA.”

High Court affirmed the decisions of the Sessions Court in Country Garden Pacificview Sdn Bhd v. Wong Yong Fook & Anor

Brief Facts

The Defendants/Purchasers purchased a unit of Condominium at Forest City pursuant to a Sale and Purchase Agreement (“SPA”) dated 30.7.2018 which is under Schedule H of the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Regulations 1989. The Plaintiff/Developer commenced an action against the Purchasers for specific relief and incidental orders as a result of the Purchasers’ omissions, neglect and/or failure to make payment towards the full purchase price according to Schedule 3 of the SPA.

The Purchasers alleged that as the deposit of 10% of the purchase price was not paid, the SPA was null and void. The Purchasers also filed a counterclaim for the sum which they had paid to the Plaintiff.

The Plaintiff’s position was, amongst others, that the deposit of 10% was paid taking into account the promotional package. In any event, as the SPA is under Schedule H, the same cannot be null and void as it a statutory contract.

The Plaintiff filed a Summary Judgment application on its claim and a Striking Out application against the Defendants’ counterclaim.

The Defendant also filed a Striking Out application against the Plaintiff’s claim.

Decision

The Sessions Court (“SC”) allowed the Plaintiff’s Summary Judgment and Striking Out applications and dismissed the Defendants’ Striking Out application.

The SC found that:-

• The Plaintiff has a right to an order for specific relief as it had fulfilled its obligation under the SPA and the Defendants have failed to raise any Defence on the merit or triable issue.
• The SC found that the Defendants’ counterclaim to be an afterthought as the Defendants had admitted the SPA and did not dispute, raise any objection and/or terminate and/or cancel the SPA. The Defendants had also admitted their breach when they failed, refused and/or neglected to make payment towards the purchase price.
• The Defendants cannot allege and plead that the SPA is invalid by relying on their own breach. Any payment collected by the Plaintiff is valid and, in any event, it does not cause the SPA to be ex-facie rescinded and unenforceable as the SPA is a statutory contract under Schedule H. Dissatisfied with the above, the Defendants appealed. The High Court found no appealable grounds for all three appeals and agreed with the Sessions Court Decision on 1.3.2023.

Key Takeaway

• A purchaser cannot make use of its own breach to try and invalidate an SPA.
• Any amount collected under the SPA is valid and, in any event, cannot be used to make an SPA ex-facie invalid and unenforceable as it is a statutory contract under Schedule H of the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Regulations 1989.

Our Partner, Patricia Jayne Noeb acted for the Developer. Patricia can be reached at patricia.noeb@ikclaw.com.