Author Archives | Sam Hopper

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Sam is a retail and commercial property and insolvency barrister at the Victorian Bar.

Tenant seeks to overturn VCAT’s exclusive jurisidiction

October 10, 2012

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Originally posted on Robert Hay KC Blog:
In Ireland v Subway Systems Australia Pty Ltd and Subway Realty Pty Ltd [2012] VCAT 1061 a tenant contended if an agreement (which it contended was a licence) was held to be a lease then the dispute had to be determined by an arbitrator pursuant to an arbitration clause…

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Willmott special leave to appeal application filed

October 4, 2012

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The Australian Financial Review today published an article reporting that an application for special leave to appeal the Court of Appeal’s recent decision in the Willmott case was filed last week. The Court of Appeal held that a liquidator of a land owning company can use the disclaimer power in the Corporations Act to disclaim […]

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Retail Leases Amendment Bill 2012

September 13, 2012

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The Retail Leases Amendment Bill 2012 (Vic) was introduced into Parliament yesterday. The main purpose of the Bill is to remove the requirement to report to the Small Business Commissioner particulars of a new or renewed lease (currently required under s 25 of the RLA 2003). The requirement to notify the Commissioner of leases and renewals […]

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More on disclaimer of a lease – part 2

September 7, 2012

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  For those following the debate about the Court of Appeal’s decision about the disclaimer of leases in the Willmott decision, here is another summary and comment on the decision by King & Wood Mallesons.

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The Mortgagee’s Power Sale 3rd edition out soon

September 7, 2012

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The third edition of Mortgagee’s Power of Sale will be released soon, written by Clyde Croft J and Robert Hay. Earlier editions of the book have been an invaluable resource for mortgage practitioners, and I am sure that the new edition will only enhance the title’s reputation. For more details, see Robert’s post here.

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More on disclaimer of a lease

September 5, 2012

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For those who are interested in the debate following my previous post on the Willmott decision, my friend and colleague Carrie Rome-Sievers has put an excellent summary of the case on her blog here.

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Disclaimer of a lease by the landlord’s liquidator – part 2

September 3, 2012

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The Court of Appeal last week ruled that a liquidator appointed to a land owning company could use the disclaimer power in s 568 of the Corporations Act to extinguish leases granted by that company. This decision may have significant consequences for tenants and their financiers if their landlords are placed into liquidation. The case […]

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Is a serviced apartment a retail premises lease? Part 2

August 27, 2012

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In the next development in the debate over whether a serviced apartment is a retail premises lease, Justice Croft last week held that the lease of a ‘serviced apartment’ as part of a ‘resort accommodation facility’ was a retail premises lease, but sounded a note of caution against applying the finding to all leases of […]

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New information sheets from the Office of the Small Business Commissioner – options and assignments

July 31, 2012

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The Office of the Small Business Commissioner has recently published two new information sheets about: exercising options;  and assignment of retail premises leases. The information sheets provide an overview of the operation of the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) in those areas and are expressed in layman’s terms. They should be a useful resource for landlords and […]

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Recovery of the cost of essential safety measures and s 251 of the Building Act part II

July 12, 2012

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I recently wrote a short note, available here, in relation to an issue that has emerged about the operation of s 251 of the Building Act on the landlord’s ability to recover certain outgoings. Robert Hay has added another post to his blog on this topic that further advances the debate, available here. Unfortunately, I […]

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