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As is well known, where the matrimonial home is offered as
security for a loan, there can be "undue influence" where
one spouse has "trust and confidence, reliance dependence or
"vulnerability" and the other has "ascendancy,
domination or control".
Recent case law has extended this principle to a guarantee of a
tenant's covenants under a lease. Where there is undue
influence, the guarantee may be unenforceable.
A company employee (who was not a director) had signed a lease as
guarantor, at the request of one of his company directors, without
having been advised about the nature of the document or offered the
opportunity to take legal advice.
The court held that the employee had established a defence on
the basis that he was unaware of the true nature of the document
but also that there had been undue influence.
To be successful in a defence of undue influence, the landlord
must have had "constructive knowledge" of the undue
influence. In this case, the landlord being aware that the tenant
had financial difficulties was sufficient to place an obligation on
the landlord to take additional steps to satisfy itself of the
guarantor's willingness to provide the guarantee.
This places an additional burden on landlords seeking the
comfort of a guarantor. The House of Lords has laid out guidance as
to what banks should do to avoid undue influence and the same
guidance should apply to landlords by analogy. The landlord must be
certain that the guarantor understands the nature and consequences
of the guarantee and the guarantor should be afforded the option of
taking independent legal advice.
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A discussion which highlights the main aspects which should be taken into consideration by an organisation or individual who is looking to undertake work in a territory other than in its home.
Lord Justice Jackson’s cost reforms came into force on 1 April 2013. Though primarily aimed at personal injury litigation, the reforms will affect construction and engineering litigation.
The Court of Appeal has recently refused to amend a legal charge registered at the Land Registry, even though it would have given effect to the parties’ common intention (which had been mistakenly missed out of the charge).
With the current economic climate, landlords are increasingly finding that they have vacant units which they will often wish to secure occupation of on a short term basis, while they market the unit for a longer term let.
Following Judge Pelling QC’s decision in Leisure Norwich (2) Limited & Others v Luminar Lava Ignite Limited (in administration) & Others [2012] EWHC 951 (Ch) (reported in the June 2012 edition of BDB’s Property & Insolvency Bulletin), rent which is incurred prior to a tenant going into administration must be proved like any other pre-administration debt and cannot be paid as an expense of the administration.
The construction sector accounts for nearly 10% of the UK economy and the Government frequently emphasises the important role the sector will play in achieving economic growth.
For many years the appeal courts have been concerned with determining what character of building is a 'house' for the purposes of enfranchisement rights.
The FIDIC Contracts Committee has issued a Guidance Note dealing with the powers of, effect of and the enforcement of Dispute Adjudication Board (DAB) decisions.
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