Wright v Cecilia Holdings Pty Ltd

The Master dismissed the plaintiffs' application for summary judgment on loan agreements because the deeds annexed to the supporting affidavits were unsigned by the plaintiffs and it was unclear in what capacity the sole defendant signatory had executed them, meaning the plaintiffs failed to establish a prima facie case. On the subsidiary issue of appropriation of payments between principal and interest, the Master found that notations such as 'loan repay' on electronic fund transfers were insufficient to constitute a communicated appropriation to principal by the debtor, and that in the absence of a clear appropriation, the common law presumption that payments are applied first to interest would apply. The precise amounts owing could not be determined on the evidence before the court.