Mortgagee lender does not have duty of care to ensure that a loan is appropriate for borrower

 

There is a translation key(widget)  on this blog for ease of reading for non-English speaking members of the public or professionals. http://roberthaybarrister.blogspot.com.au/

 

Defaulting mortgagor borrowers defending court proceedings by the mortgagee lender often allege that the lender owed them a duty to investigate their income and assets and liabilities to determine whether the loan could be serviced. The legal basis for such a claim was recently rejected by the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Westpac Banking Corporation v Diagne [2014] NSWSC 822.

 

Among the many claims made by the defaulting mortgagor borrowers was that the lender had a duty to “[prudently investigate the income, assets and liabilities of [the borrowers] and the proposed business plan of [the borrowers] in order to determine serviceability” and “[t]o take reasonable remedial action when the loans fell into arrears, including investigating the causes of the arrears, working with [the borrowers] to remedy the problems identified and continuing to monitor the ability of the borrowers and guarantors to adequately service the facilities”. Included in the alleged duty was a duty “to appropriately set and alter limits on overdraft facilities”.

 

Ball J rejected the borrower’s claims. His Honour applied Tai Hing Cotton Mill Ltd v Liu Chong Hing Bank Ltd [1986] AC 80  and held that the lender did not have a duty of care to investigate the borrower’s circumstances to determine whether the loan that was made was appropriate for them.

My clerk can be contacted via this link for bookings  http://www.greenslist.com.au/

Advertisement