Posted by Elizabeth Gore-Jones
on 7 February 2024
BACKGROUND
The recent New South Wales Supreme Court case Lee v ATL (Australia) Pty Ltd [2023] NSWCA 327 found that a guarantor was not liable to a lender under a loan deed where that deed had been amended by a side letter between the borrower and the lender which did not include the guarantor.
The Court found that the guarantor was not liable to the lender at all.
TAKEAWAY
If a franchisor is agreeing to vary the terms of a franchise agreement or related document, it should ensure that the...
Posted by Elizabeth Gore-Jones
on 31 January 2024
The ACCC issued a report in December 2023 called “Unfair Contract Terms in Franchise Agreements – Key Findings of Targeted Compliance Checks on Franchisors”. You can find the report here.
An important disclosure in the report was that the ACCC stated that:
“We consider that the franchising sector is on notice regarding the ACCC’s views about UCTs in franchise agreements.”
The ACCC gave the following tips when reviewing their contracts:
1. &nb...
Posted by Elizabeth Gore-Jones
on 30 January 2024
As from November 2023, the Unfair Contract Terms legislation introduced significant penalties for including unfair terms in any contract including leases.
The penalties could be $50 million.
The new legislation will apply to:
1. Any new lease
2. An assignment, variation or renewal of a lease (regardless of when the lease was originally entered into)
3. The exercise of an option under the lease even ...
