Property was sold from a deceased estate under an order of the Court.The purchaser found the title was defective.
Held: A condition in a contract for the sale of land which purports to oust any right to object to the title or to raise requisitions cannot be relied on if it is misleading, or there has been less than full disclosure.
Fry J said: ‘It is also perfectly plain that, where the sale is under the direction of the Court, the Court will lean, if possible, to a more exact requirement of good faith and honesty on the part of the vendor; it will endeavour to insist upon that fair, straightforward, honest, open dealing which ought to characterise transactions between vendor and purchaser.’
Jessel MR said: ‘in sales by the Court there should be at least as much good faith shewn towards the purchaser as, and perhaps a little more than, is required by ordinary vendors out of Court. The old Court of Chancery – and this Court is its successor – has always felt bound to see that purchasers are fairly and honestly dealt with in every respect; and if there is any difference – I do not say there is – the difference must surely be in favour of a purchaser who buys under the decree and order of the Chancery Division.’
Cotton LJ said: ‘but I think in a case of this sort, where the sale is by the Court, the Court is bound to take more especial care, if possible, that there shall be nothing in the conditions, or in the representations therein contained, which by possibility can mislead a vendor, because the purchaser has a right to assume that the Court will take very good care that there shall be nothing that can in any way mislead him as to the title he is getting.’
Judges:
Fry J, Je ssel MR , LJ Cotton
Citations:
(1879) 12 ChD 131
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Area Estates Ltd v Weir CA 20-Jul-2010
The parties contracted for the sale and purchase of land with vacant possession. It was subject to a lease which the seller said had been surrendered, and it refused to accept any requisitions of objections. After exchange it appeared that the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Land, Contract
Updated: 17 June 2022; Ref: scu.420980