Devon v Thirteenth Kaysan Pty Ltd
[2016] FCA 357
At a glance
Source factsCourt
Federal Court of Australia
Decision date
2016-04-13
Before
Davies J
Source
Original judgment source is linked above.
Judgment (12 paragraphs)
- Judgment be entered for the First, Second, Third and Twelfth Respondents against the Applicant pursuant to s 31A(2) of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth).
- The Applicant pay the First, Second, Third and Twelfth Respondents' costs of the proceedings. Note: Entry of orders is dealt with in Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT 1 Application has been made by the First, Second, Third and Twelfth Respondents for an order pursuant to s 31A(2) of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976 (Cth) ("the Act") and/or r 26.01(1) of the Federal Court Rules 2011 (Cth) ("the Rules") dismissing the whole of the Applicant's claims against them. Alternatively, they seek an order pursuant to r 16.21(1)(b)-(f) of the Rules that the claims against them be struck out in their entirety and ancillary orders pursuant to s 37P(2) of the Act in relation to the filing and serving of an amended statement of claim by the Applicant. As the First and Second Respondents were only recently served with the Originating Process, they made their application orally. 2 The Applicant, who at the time was self-represented, filed an originating process on 3 September 2015 seeking relief against 27 named respondents supported by an affidavit sworn by him. The application was said to be made under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth), the National Consumer Credit Protection Regulations 2010, the National Credit Code, ss 12AC-12ED and s 12DA of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth), s 18 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (presumably intended to be a reference to s 18 of the Australian Consumer Law, Sch 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act), s 1041H and Chapter 5C of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), the Consumer Credit Legislation Amendment (Enhancements) Act 2012 and the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012 (Vic). Pursuant to orders made by the Court on 16 October 2015, the Applicant also filed a statement of claim. Neither the grounds supporting the originating process or the affidavit in support are easy to follow, nor do they articulate an intelligible claim. The statement of claim is also largely unintelligible but as best can be understood, the allegations against the 27 respondents relate to two loan transactions, although the loan transactions themselves are not specifically identified. 3 Nonetheless, it is uncontroversial that one of the loan transactions relates to an amount of $1.5 million advanced by the First and Second Respondents to Southco Enterprises Pty Ltd ("Southco"), a company of which the Applicant was the sole director at the relevant time ("the first loan"). The Applicant guaranteed the loan and also gave a first mortgage over the property at 11 Cromwell Road, South Yarra ("the property"), of which the Applicant is the registered proprietor, as security for the loan. The First and Second Respondents were clients of the Third Respondent, a legal firm which procured the finance for Southco. 4 The other loan transaction involved the Twelfth Respondent which is also a firm of solicitors. The particulars of that loan are not easily identified in the evidence before the Court as the Twelfth Respondent did not file any supporting material itself but instead relied wholly upon the material filed on behalf of the Third Respondent. That material incorporates some documentation in relation to a second mortgage over the property to secure a loan of $1.1 million from the Fourth to Eleventh Respondents, which the Applicant also guaranteed, although it is unclear whether that loan was made to Southco or to another company also associated with the Applicant, namely Cambray Place Pty Ltd ("Cambray Place") ("the second loan"). The Applicant has alleged that the loan was a "managed investment pool" of the Twelfth Respondent. 5 The Applicant's pleaded case against the First, Second, Third and Twelfth Respondents, in essence, is that the loan transactions were credit contracts to which the provisions of Sch 1 of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) ("National Credit Code" or "Code") applied and the respondents were credit providers under those contracts. It is alleged that the respondents did not comply with the licensing requirements or the responsible lending requirements imposed under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth) ("Credit Act"). It is further alleged that the respondents "knowingly contracted to avoid the provisions of the National Credit Code for consumer protection". No material facts are pleaded in support of this allegation nor are any particulars provided. The grounds of the Originating Process do, however, contain the allegation that the credit contracts were "structured, knowingly, into a company solely for the purpose of providing to [the Applicant] as an individual consumer, home refinancing of an existing consumer credit contract with the Delphi Bank". 6 Claims of unconscionable conduct and misleading and deceptive conduct are also alleged against the respondents. As best can be understood, it is alleged that the respondents "entrapped" the Applicant to obtain finance from them by lodging caveats over the property to prevent the Applicant from selling the property or refinancing with other lenders and used "inflated internal valuations" to over lend and charge increased fees. The Applicant seeks orders setting aside the "finance contracts" and compensation and damages.