Mrs Brooks and Mr Armstrong entered into a deed transferring property from her to him, with provisions about a mortgage in favour of the building society to which the property was subject. The building society was not a party to the deed. Mr Brooks expressly covenanted with the building society that he would repay the mortgage debt then owed by Mrs Brooks. The society sued Mr Brooks claiming that it could enforce that covenant against him notwithstanding that it (the building society) was not a party to the deed.
Held: The society could enforce the covenant: ‘the document is in form much more analogous to a deed poll. It may be more accurately stated as a deed not inter partes, although it is not strictly a deed poll.’ It was not necessary to take account of everything in the whole document, because the whole document included a transfer from Mrs Brooks to Mr Armstrong. As respects that part of the document it undoubtedly a deed inter partes. The court took account of the part of the deed upon which the building society wished to rely despite not being a party to it. As respects that part the document was not a deed inter partes, and it followed that the building society could sue upon to enforce the promise which had been made to it.’
Judges:
Vaisey J
Citations:
[1951] 1 Ch 853
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Moody and Another v Condor Insurance Ltd and Another ChD 3-Feb-2006
The claimants sought to enforce a deed of guarantee. The defendants argued that the claimant had no entitlement to enforce the deed, not being parties to it, and that they would be able to set aside the deed as against the company whose debts they . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Contract
Updated: 07 July 2022; Ref: scu.238871
