Legal Remedy for Cancellation of Lease

The assignment discusses a scenario where a couple, SADLee, extended a lease due to pressure from solicitors MeaNNees, who took advantage of their situation. It is determined that the lease was not entered under duress, but the couple can seek a remedy in court for cancellation of the lease with increased rent. The document references various sources on unconscionable conduct, duress, and contractual analysis to support its conclusions.

Case Scenario Paper - Contract
Law

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
QUESTION 1...................................................................................................................................1
QUESTION 2...................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Contractual agreement are one of the essential requirement to carryout of with various
business operations and projects. The contracts are entered by the parties under a business
proposal to give it a legal enforceablility. In the present report two different issues related with a
given case scenarios are interpreted and legal solutions is presented for both the problems. The
case is related with SADlee a couple facing certain problem with its lease and sale agreement.
QUESTION 1
Issue:
Determination of the fact that whether SADlee can avoid the extended lease agreement
on the basis of Unconscious conduct or not?
Rules:
As per Australian contract law, an unconscionable contract are the one dealing with
transaction between dominant and weaker parties. A contract is said to be unconscionable if
there is an unfair dispute between a dominant and a weaker party under the contract1. In this
contract the stronger party takes advantages from the weaker party due to their special disability.
The special disability of a person can be determined as the incapability of person to understand a
particular language or illiteracy, poor education drunk, elderly people or disabled person. An
unconscionable can be enforced by the common law only with decided case laws and with legal
provision defined under the Australian consumer Law.
According to section 20, 21 and 22 of the Australian Consumer law (ACL) the
consumers are protected from this type of contracts. Section 20 states that a company must not
engage in a conduct of unconscionable under the meaning of this unwritten law. Section 21,
protects the consumers in relation to acquisition of goods and services from a person2. Section
22 defines certain condition that must be examine by the court in checking whether the contract
was under unconscionable conduct, that factors which must be determined are:
1
Unconscionable Conduct in Contracts. 2018. [online]. Available through
:<https://legalvision.com.au/unconscionable-conduct-contracts/>.
2 Unconscionable Conduct. 2018. [online]. Available through
:<https://www.australiancontractlaw.com/law/avoidance-unconscionable.html>.
1

 Whether the weaker party understood the terms and condition of the contract before
signings it,
 Whether the weaker party was under undue influence or was subject to unfair tactics,
 Whether parties acted in good faith.
Undue influence:
This can be defined as a when there occurs an inequity of the power between the parties
to contract which results in renting of a weaker party into the contract with dominant party. In
this type of contract the contracts are treated as voidable and are classifies as undue and weaker
party have an option to rescind the contrac3t. The undue influence can of two types express and
presumed. Express one takes place when the terms of the contract are unfair ans undue pressure
made by the beneficiary and is not free from the independent judgment. Presumed one is related
with the existing relation between the parties to the contract. The relation can not be defined
explicitly but it includes relation of parent and child, guardian and ward, solicitor and client ect.
Application:
From the given case study the facts can be determined that the couple Sadlee was
Urgent need of the Money for treatment of their daughter in Mexico, who was having the life
threat for the disease suffered. This was the leading factors that made the to sale the shop they
owned. With application of the above mentioned rules in given scenario this can be clearly
stated that SADLee was in a worker position and the dominant position was held by the
MeaNNees. As per section 22, the SADLees couple was aware of all terms and condition
related with the contract that is increased rent and extended term of the lease4. The other party
to the contract this is Cash max did not acted in the good faith as they took undue advantages of
the situation of SADLee couple. The couple was under undue influence which was expressed
one as the terms of the contract to extent the lease term was unfair. The rent in the central was
decreasing rather the solicitors of MeaNNees told them to increase the rent this is a clear case
that they want to take undue advantages of the situation of the SADlee couple. As per the
provision of the Australian consumer law this can be stated that the contract is voidable as this is
3 Allsop, J. (2017). Characterisation: Its Place in Contractual Analysis and Related
Enquiries. AUSTRALIAN LAW JOURNAL. 91(6).
4 Pope, T. M., & Okninski, M. E. (2016). Legal standards for brain death and undue
influence in euthanasia laws. Journal of bioethical inquiry. 13(2). 173-178.
2

centered into by undue influence which is one of the condition mentioned under section 22 of the
ACL.
Conclusion:
This can be concluded for the present case that SADLee couple can sought a remedy in
the court to declare the contract void as this is made under unconscionable conduct of the
MeaNNees as they took undue advantages of the weaker party that is SADLee couple.
QUESTION 2
Issue:
To determine that whether the directors of Cash Max that whether they can avoid the
lease entered one year back on the basis of Duress?
Rules
Duress:
In respect with presenting the adequate judgement based on the case there will be
consideration over the laws and regulation presented by the Federal registrar of regulation thus,
on which there will be application to the law of Duress which is being established under common
law of parliament. This law permits victims to escape from their contractual obligations by
denoting the signed contract voidable5. Therefore, it has been established one of the agreeing
parties which must illegitimate pressure in the weaker parties in the organisation. There might
be establishment of the economic duress which were in context with dominant parties threatens
for not performing any contractual activities. Therefore, on which threatens to kills and damage
the property is not being denoted in the economic duress.
It might be relevant with the person who is involved in the action such as threatening to kill a
person if they market any contractual agreement as well as to the personal property of any
individual 6. Therefore, the damage to personal property of an individual on which the cases such
as threatening to burn or damage the house etc. therefore, these are the acts which have been
demoted as the economic duress. Along with this, the case of SADlee couple which reflects that
5 Hayward, A. (2016). Prenuptial agreements and the presumption of free choice: issues of
power in theory and practice
6 Duress. 2018. [online]. Available through
:<https://www.australiancontractlaw.com/law/avoidance-duress.html>.
3

there had been threats to them with respect to make any contractual agreement with another.
Therefore, cancellation of past made agreements have been taken into considerations.
In respect with the Australian Consumer law which have been helpful in terms of
prohibiting the corporation using physical force or undue harassment which will be relevant with
deliveries as well as payments of products and services. There have been influences of remedies
which have been awarded by Statutes with respect to several cases and circumstances which
have been presented in the analysis. In respect with various consumer contractual laws on which
analyzing the outcomes will be helpful on making operational determination of the data base.
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 have been implicated which in turn respecting to protect
the data base and prevents the consumer rights. There have been influences of duress under the
physical harassment and coercion which are in connection with several aspects such as:
 There must be deliveries or possible deliveries of product and services
 There will be payment of such product and services
 There will be consideration over the sale or grant as well as the possible sale or grant of
an interest in property.
 Similarly, there will be payment to an interest in property.
Application:
From the application of the above rules in the given case it can be stated that contract
under duress are the one which are forcible entered by a weaker party on the dominance of
other. In the present case the contract was written and printed by the MeaNNees at the night
before Simon threatened them7. This can not be considered as duress. The scene clearly
mention that when Simon pointed the gun on the couple that took out the contract and said that
we already have made the contract without increasing the rent and release clause. The contract
was made by the MeaNNees with no increase rent and release terms because they had a change
of the heart. Moreover, the duress was made after the contact was prepared and MeaNNees were
not at all threatened or influenced by Simon to change the terms of the contract.
Conclusion:
This can be concluded for the present case as per the provision of the ACL the contract
made under Duress are voidable for the party under undue influence. Here, no situation of duress
7 Pearson, G. (2017). Further challenges for Australian consumer law. In Consumer Law
and Socioeconomic Development. (pp. 287-305). Springer, Cham.
4

was identified for on the behalf on the MeaNNees couples. Hence, the lease contralto entered by
the pastries are valid and intact. The directors of CashMax can not avoid the lease on basis of
Duress.
CONCLUSION
From the above retort it can be concluded that the SADLee couple extended the else
because they were under pressure to get money early as they need money for treatment of their
daughter and the solicitors of MeaNNees took undue advantages of their situation as this fall
under one of the condition of special disability of unconscionable conduct, hence they can seek a
remedy n the court for cancellation of the lease with increased rent. Further more it has been
determined for the second question that lease was not entered under duress hence the contracted
can not be avoided.
5

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Allsop, J. (2017). Characterisation: Its Place in Contractual Analysis and Related
Enquiries. AUSTRALIAN LAW JOURNAL. 91(6).
Hayward, A. (2016). Prenuptial agreements and the presumption of free choice: issues of power
in theory and practice.
Pearson, G. (2017). Further challenges for Australian consumer law. In Consumer Law and
Socioeconomic Development. (pp. 287-305). Springer, Cham.
Pope, T. M., & Okninski, M. E. (2016). Legal standards for brain death and undue influence in
euthanasia laws. Journal of bioethical inquiry. 13(2). 173-178.
Online
Unconscionable Conduct. 2018. [online]. Available through
:<https://www.australiancontractlaw.com/law/avoidance-unconscionable.html>.
Unconscionable Conduct in Contracts. 2018. [online]. Available through
:<https://legalvision.com.au/unconscionable-conduct-contracts/>.
Duress. 2018. [online]. Available through
:<https://www.australiancontractlaw.com/law/avoidance-duress.html>.
6