오클랜드 헌베이의 570만 달러 주택 대금 불이행, 바이어에게 70만달러 지불 명령내려져
Buyer ordered to pay $700,000 after defaulting on payment for $5.7million house
A buyer who agreed to pay $5.7million for a house in Auckland’s Herne Bay has been ordered to pay more than $700,000 to the vendor after defaulting on payment.
The house, at 34 Hamilton Road, Herne Bay, was owned by NZ Tourist Investments Ltd. On March 12, 2022 NZ Tourist entered an agreement for sale and purchase of the property with Vast Investment Ltd. for the sum of $5.7m.
The sole director and shareholder of Vast is Dabin Wang.
Vast failed to pay by the settlement date, which was June 30, 2022. NZ Tourist issued a settlement notice but Vast defaulted.
So NZ Tourist relisted the property, and it eventually sold on January 24, 2023, for $4.9m.
NZ Tourist then took Vast to court seeking judgement for its losses.
Vast accepted it was liable for breach of contract but opposed a summary judgement for losses because it believed that NZ Tourist should have obtained a higher price on the resale, and could have achieved this by leaving it on the market for longer.
The matter was heard by Associate Judge Grant Brittain in the High Court at Auckland.
In a decision delivered last month, Judge Brittain said in order for Vast to be successful it would need to establish that NZ Tourist had acted unreasonably during the resale process.
Vast claimed that NZ Tourist had sold for a price that was substantially below market value at the time and that NZ Tourist could not recover an amount equivalent to an undervalue.
Brittain noted that it was common ground that property prices were dropping in 2022, and the prospect of a declining economy and property market was a valid reason for NZ Tourist to move quickly.
“Vast’s criticism of particular aspects of the resale process based on hindsight is exactly the type of criticism which is insufficient to support a finding of unreasonable conduct. The defence of a failure to mitigate loss is not arguable,” Brittain said.
He ordered Vast to pay NZ Tourist $681,136.83. This covered the loss on resale, plus interest on the unpaid purchase price between the original settlement date and the resale settlement date, plus costs incurred for rates, water charges and insurance between those dates, and the cost of the resale process.
On top of that, Vast was ordered to pay 14% interest per annum on $230,000 from January 23, 2023 until the date of payment, and $18,218.25 in court costs and disbursements.
Davin Wang has faced similar controversies with two other property purchases, involving Takanuna and Milford real estate.
▲ The three-bedroom 222sqm. home at 34 Hamilton Road, Herne Bay, sits on a 1315sqm. property.
오클랜드 헌베이의 570만 달러 주택 대금 불이행, 바이어에게 70만달러 지불 명령내려져
오클랜드 헌베이 지역 34 Hamilton Rd에 위치한 주택을 구입한 구매자가 지불 의무를 어기면서 70만 달러 이상을 판매자에게 지불하도록 법원이 명령했다.
해당 주택의 소유자인 NZ Tourise Investment Ltd는 2022년 3월 12일, Vast Investment Ltd와 570만 달러에 주택을 매각하기로 한 계약을 체결했다.
Vast의 단독 이사인 다빈 왕은 2022년 6월30일까지 결제를 이행하지 못했고, 이후 NZ Tourist는 부동산을 490만 달러에 재판매했다.
Vast는 계약 위반을 인정하면서도, 높은 가격을 받을 때까지 기다렸어야 한다는 주장을 펼치기도 했지만, 법원은 이 주장을 기각했다.
판사 브리튼은 재판매 기간 동안 부동산 시장이 하락세를 보였으며, NZ Tourist가 신속한 조치를 취한 것은 합리적이라고 판단했다.
이에 따라 Vast는 NZ Tourist에게 681,136.83불을 포함한 금액을 지불해야 하며, 이는 재판매로 인한 손실, 원래 정산일과 재판매 정산일 사이의 미지급 이자, 세금, 수도료, 보험료, 재판매 수수료를 포함하고 있다.
뿐만 아니라 Vast는 2023년 1월23일까지 230,000불에 대한 연이자 14%를 지불하고 법원 비용으로 18,218.25불을 부담해야 한다.
다빈 왕은 해당 부동산 구매와 관련된 논란으로 인해 Takanuna와 Milford 부동산을 포함한 두 건의 부동산 거래에서 유사한 문제에 직면해왔다.
