LI JIALIN & Anor v WINGCROWN INVESTMENT PTE LTD

Case Significance

In Li Jialin and another v Wingcrown Investment Pte Ltd [2024] SGCA 48, decided on 6 November 2024, the Court of Appeal heard Civil Appeal No 5 of 2024, with Sundaresh Menon CJ, Tay Yong Kwang JCA and Steven Chong JCA sitting and Steven Chong JCA delivering the grounds of decision. The case concerned a property developer, the respondent Wingcrown Investment Pte Ltd, that had initially purported to forfeit a deposit constituting about 63% of the purchase price upon the non-completion of a contract for the sale and purchase of an apartment by the appellants, Li Jialin and Li Suinan. In response to a letter of demand for the return of the deposit, the respondent changed its position and decided to forfeit a reduced sum amounting to 20% of the purchase price while withholding a further sum for damages, with the balance refunded to the appellants about five years after the initial forfeiture. The court framed the essential question as whether the deposit could or could not be forfeited, rather than whether the respondent was entitled to forfeit part of it, in the context of Condition 15.9(c)(i) of the relevant Law Society conditions. The catchwords record issues of deposits and of liquidated damages and penalties. Professor Yeo Tiong Min served as independent counsel.