› Vendor's notice under s 27 of Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic)
› Contractual provision abridging statutory response period from 28 days to 5 business days
› Whether contractual provision contravened Division 3 of Part 1 of the Act
› Whether void under s 28
› Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic), ss 24, 27, 28
Contract
› Construction
› Correction of obvious errors
› Reference to non-existent clause
› Whether typographical error could be corrected as part of construction task
› Whether 'General Condition 12(a)' should be read as 'General Condition 12.1(a)'
Quick Take
1A contractual provision that truncates the 28-day period afforded to a purchaser under ss 27(4) and (6) of the Sale of Land Act 1962 (Vic) to respond to a vendor's notice seeking release of a deposit is in contravention of Division 3 of Part 1 of that Act and is void and of no effect under s 28.
2Section 27 of the Sale of Land Act 1962 balances vendor and purchaser interests by embedding a 28-day response period; reduction of that timeframe by contract is inimical to the statutory protection afforded to purchasers and to the balance the statute provides.
3Obvious typographical errors in a contract (such as a cross-reference to a non-existent clause) may be corrected as part of the construction task without rendering the provision void for uncertainty.
Case Details
Citation[2023] VSCA 325
CourtVSCA
JurisdictionVictoria
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