In Stewart v Atco Controls Pty Ltd (In Liquidation) [2014] HCA 15, the High Court of Australia recently delivered a decision which has confirmed the priority of a Liquidator’s lien over the interests of a secured creditor.
The facts
04 December 2013
[2013] HCA 51
High Court of Australia (French CJ, Hayne J, Kiefel J and Gageler J; Keane J dissenting)
The High Court of Australia held that liquidators of an insolvent lessor could disclaim a lease, and that this would terminate the lessee’s proprietary interest.
A recent decision in the High Court of Australia gave liquidators of landlords extra powers to disclaim leases that are registered on title. For example, if a landlord leases a site to a tenant, and the landlord subsequently goes into liquidation, the liquidator does not have to abide by the terms of the lease, and may refuse to recognise the lease and ask the tenant to vacate the site.
Facts
In brief - High Court confirms that liquidators of landlord companies can disclaim leases, terminating lessees' rights
In Madsen-Ries v Rapid Construction Ltd [2013] NZCA 489, the Court of Appeal considered an appeal concerning a liquidator's attempt to have a payment set aside.
In our September 2012 insolvency update, we reported on Re Willmott Forests Ltd [2012] VSC 29, where the Victorian Court of Appeal found that a leasehold interest in land is extinguished by a liquidator's disclaimer of the lease pursuant to section 568(1) of the Australian Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
Today the High Court of Australia handed down a decision which confirms a liquidator has the green light to disclaim leasehold interests in land (Willmott Growers Group Inc v Willmott Forests Limited (receivers and managers appointed)(in liquidation)).
Due to the way in which the case came before the Courts, the High Court did not consider the application of s568B of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Act).
This section allows tenants to challenge in Court the liquidator’s disclaimer.
Willmott Growers Group Inc v Willmott Forests Ltd (Receivers and Managers appointed) (In Liquidation) [2013] HCA 51
Overview
Section 568 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Act) gives liquidators broad powers to disclaim onerous property.
Until the High Court’s decision, it was unclear whether this power entitled a liquidator of an insolvent landlord to disclaim a lease, such that the solvent tenant no longer has any proprietary interest in the land.
Case law on the new insolvent transactions regime is scarce, even though the changes were introduced three years ago. The High Court's recent decision in Blanchett v McEntee Hire Holdings Limited examines, for the first time in New Zealand, central principles in the new voidable transactions regime.