Land Law week 1

• Two types of land registration in Australia:

  1. General Law land
  2. Torrens Title land

  Land under the general law system is referred to as "old title" or "common law land". For general law land, the only way legal title can be transferred is by a DEED (deed of conveyance).

  
  

  Land under the Torrens title land is known as "Torrens Title". An interest in land is known as a registered interest in land. It can also be called a legal interest in land.
• General law interest in land:

  
  

  Creating of legal estates is that all conveyances or dispositions of legal interest in land (unless by will) must be in a deed.

  
  

  s52(1) PLA: All conveyances of land or any interest therein are void for the purposes of conveying or creating a legal estate in land unless made in a deed.
• s 18PLA - "Conveyance":

  • mortgage
  • charge
  • lease
  • assent
  • vesting declaration
  • disclaimer
  • release
  • surrender
  • extinguishment

  Exception to the statutory requirement of deed: Oral Leases created for three years or less s54(2) PLA:
• Deed


  A document which has been signed by both parties with the intention of operating as a deed. Should be signed as witnessed by both parties.
• Executing a deed


  Signing or placing a mark upon it
• Instrument executed after the date of the PL (deeds) Act 1977


  If expressed to be sealed, will operate as a deed
• Transferring an estate

  • Requires a deed unless an exception applies
  • Without a deed, no legal interest is created
  • A deed makes the interest legally enforceable, while without it, the interest may still be enforceable under equity
• Equitable interest in land s 53PLA:

  
  

  1. Interests in land must be created or disposed of in writing, signed by the relevant person or their authorized agent, or by will.

  2. Trusts in land must also be declared in writing, signed by someone able to declare the trust or by will.

  3. Transfers of existing equitable interests or trusts must be in writing and signed.

  4. This does not affect resulting, implied, or constructive trusts.
• Doctrine of Part Performance


  A party can still enforce an equitable interest even if the contract is unenforceable due to s126.
• Doctrine of Part Performance: Section 126 makes equitable interests arising from part performance or court imposition unenforceable, not invalid. This only becomes an issue if there is a dispute and the contract is only partially performed; otherwise, unenforceability is irrelevant to the parties involved.
• Equitable interests

  Can arise when a court issues a decree of specific performance, as in the case of Walsh v Lonsdale
• Preconditions for equitable interests to arise

  • Valid Contract
  • Compliance
  • Adequate Remedy
  • Performance
  • Conditional Contracts
  • No Barriers
  • Good Title
• Valid Contract

  • Must be valid under ordinary contract law (offer, acceptance, consideration, etc.)
• Compliance

  • Contract must meet the requirements for land sale contracts
• Adequate Remedy


  • Equity won't grant specific performance if legal damages are adequate, but land is usually considered unique, making damages inadequate
• Performance

  • The party seeking specific performance must be ready and willing to fulfill their contractual obligations
• Conditional Contracts

  • Conditional contracts (e.g., subject to finance approval) must have conditions satisfied before being enforceable
• No Barriers

  • No barriers such as undue influence, delay, or acquiescence should exist
• Good Title


  • The vendor must prove good title, or the purchaser must accept the title as is
• Specific performance requires meeting these conditions and proving the ability to perform obligations under the contract
• Part performance

  Sufficient acts performed by the plaintiff who was seeking to enforce the contract
• Specific performance

  Contract may still be specifically enforceable where there is no writing, or insufficient writing
• Doctrine of part performance

  Allows for the enforcement of an oral contract for the sale of an interest in land, despite the absence of writing, when the contract has been sufficiently acted upon
• A lack of writing will not be fatal to the recognition of an equitable interest because the contract may still be specifically enforceable where there is no writing, or insufficient writing, provided there have been sufficient acts of part-performance of the contract
• In order to establish part performance, the following must be shown:

  • that the acts of performance unequivocally relate to the agreement alleged
  • that the act relied upon must have been done on the faith of the agreement and must have resulted in a change of position with respect to the subject matter of the contract such that the person would be unfairly prejudiced if the other party were to take advantage of the absence of any written evidence.
• Part performance

  Acts that are unequivocally referable to an agreement, thereby constituting part performance
• Part performance

  Acts that are unequivocally referable to an agreement, thereby constituting part performance
• Section 53(2) PLA specifically provides that the requirement of writing does not apply to the creation of resulting, implied or constructive trusts. Further s 55(d) PLA provides that the equitable doctrine of part performance shall not be affected by the formality requirements set out in s 53 PLA.

  Whilst s 126 Instruments Act does not specifically acknowledge that part performance is an exception to those formality requirements, it may be treated in this way.
• Priority Rules:

  Priority disputes arise when multiple interests in land conflict. The priority rules resolve these disputes, applying only to old title land or unregistered land interests. The framework addresses:

  1. Disputes between legal estates.
  2. Disputes between legal and equitable interests.
  3. Disputes between two equitable interests.
  4. Disputes between equitable interests and mere equities.
• The priority rules determine which interests take precedence over others when two or more competing interests exist on the same land at the same time.
• Priorities between legal estates under general law

  Nemo dat quod non habet

  The rule to apply is referred to as ‘Nemo dat quot non habet’—‘A person cannot convey an interest in which he or she does not have’. Because of the nemo dat principle priority is given to the legal interest created first in time.
• Priorities between legal and equitable interests under GL:

  Prior legal estate> subsequent legal interest

  The priority rule to apply to this dispute is from Whipp: a legal interest prevails

  over subsequent equitable interest. Exceptions to this rule exist.
• Prior equitable interest, subsequent legal interest

  Priority rule: The holder of a legal estate has priority over a prior equitable estate

  if he/she can prove they are a bona fide purchaser for value without notice.
• Doctrine of Notice

  The doctrine of notice will hold a subsequent legal title holder to any equity which he or she knew or should known about. The scope and range of the doctrine of notice is broad.
• Disputes between equitable interests

  1. Court determines the superior interest based on merit

  2. If the merits are equal, priority in time of creation prevails
• Traditional View


  • Equity initially assesses the facts to decide the better equity
  • If equality persists, the 'first in time' principle applies as a last resort, following the precedent set in Rice v Rice (1853)
• Alternative Approach


  • In Heid v Reliance, Chief Justice Gibbs suggested prioritizing the later equitable interest over the earlier one if deemed appropriate
• Regardless of the approach, the crucial step involves a merit-based analysis to establish which equity is superior when the interests are deemed equal
• Formality requirements for express EI s53PLA: