Competition and Consumer Act 2010(Cth)
800 words
In July 2013, Samantha, an overseas investor purchased Dowtown Plaza, a multi-storey commercial building for $35 million from Jake through his real estate agent Damien. In pre-contractual negotiations, Sellers told Samantha quite emphatically that:
(a) the building had a 65% occupancy rate;
(b) a major new tenant was about to sign a five year lease agreement for an entire floor; and
(c) all existing tenancy agreements were due for an automatic 10% rental increase.
None of these statements, which proved simply untrue or very misleading, were included in the sale contract and which included a "whole of agreement" clause. Samantha discovered the truth after purchasing the property and that the property was worth only $25 million. Due to a depressed market she wasn't able to re-sell Downtown Plaza and incurred an operating loss on the building of $1 million in the financial year ended 30 June 2014.
(a) Advise Samantha as to her legal rights (if any) under the relevant common law and equity principles operating in Australia, against Jake and his real estate agent Damien.
(b) Similarly, advise Samantha of her legal rights under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010(Cth) against Jake and Damien.