MMP721 – Property Law and Practice Trimester 2

Description

You are still working for DK law firm, which specialises in property law. Your previous advice to Jake has impressed your boss Michael Robinavitch, so he has given you another research task concerning a new client, Cassie McKay.

Cassie and Chad are both on the title as registered proprietors of a Torrens title land near the town of Orbost in Eastern Victoria. Their property, Red Gum Estate, covers 80 hectares and includes a large natural dam.

They purchased the land in the late 1980s and the Certificate of Title has remained in paper form, having never converted to a digital or electronic Certificate of Title. The property is valued at around $4 million as of July 2022 and is subject to an unregistered mortgage in favour of Rural Financial Service of Victoria for the amount of $1.5 million. Cassie and Chad both contribute to the mortgage payment from their joint bank account.

Rural Financial Service of Victoria (RFSV) is financial service provider owned by several large law firms across Victoria as a joint venture business. Although not a bank, they leverage the financial resources of these firms and provide informal lending to owners of rural land that can sometimes find it difficult to obtain loans from traditional banks. After the COVID pandemic, RFSV experienced a significant increase in mortgage applications. In order to alleviate the temporary cashflow shortages, the CEO of RFSV, Dana Evans, instructed all branches across Victoria to bundle up all title documents of unregistered mortgages in order to secure larger cash loans from bigger banks. Dana secured a large cash loan from Forward Bank, with all the unregistered title documents as ‘collaterals’. None of the owners were informed of this, including Cassie and Chad. Dana and her assistants forged all owners’ signatures and presented the executed documents for Forward Bank. The Bank promptly registered their interests on all titles affected. According to Forward Bank’s own record, Red Gum Estate is registered for a $2 million mortgage granted to Forward Bank. RFSV put the entire loan into short term investments, expecting high returns, with the plan to use the profit to discharge the loan before any of the owners become aware of the mortgages. Unfortunately, the uncertainty of the market post-pandemic means RFSV lost more than 90% of their investment value and is now unable to repay the loan. RFSV has since declared bankruptcy with assets of less than $100,000 to repay their debts.

In December 2023, Cassie and Chad separate, Cassie moved interstate, while Chad stayed at the farm. In June 2024, Chloe moved into the farm having started a relationship with Chad earlier in the year. In December 2024, Chad executed a deed transferring his interest in the farm to Chloe; however, when Chad contacted RFSV to make the Certificate of Title available for conversion into a digital Certificate of Title and for the transfer to Chloe, RFSV refused, citing the need to discharge their mortgage first. In March 2025, Chad received several letters from Forward Bank advising that their mortgage is in default and if no resolution is reached within 30 days, the bank will exercise their right to sell the property to recover the debt. As Chad had no dealings with Forward Bank, he ignores the letters, thinking they were mistakenly sent. In June 2025 Chad died suddenly after a fatal traffic accident. By the time Cassie returns to the farm to organise Chad’s affairs, she is surprised to find that Forward Bank had sold the property in a mortgagee auction to their neighbour Dennis and Trinity with settlement scheduled in August 2025.

Cassie seeks the following advice:

• Can Cassie have the mortgage with Forward Bank set aside, as well as stop Dennis and Trinity from settling the purchase and becoming registered?

• Chloe is asserting her interest in the land, claiming half of Red Gum Estate. Cassie wants to know if Chloe has any interest in the land, if so, what kind of interest?

• In his instruction, Michael further asked you to provide your opinion on how you think the co-ownership between Cassie and Chad was registered? Whether it was a joint tenancy or tenants in common? Further, Michael wants to know if the separation between Chad and Cassie in Dec 2023 severs the co-ownership in any way.

Hints and Tips

Keep your client in mind when writing the report. They can search things online for themselves, but they came to the firm with an expectation that you will offer value by researching, summarising, and clearly explaining things to them. Your report is to be written in a way that the reader can easily understand.

The Austlii database will assist you in identifying any relevant legislation. Austlii was introduced in Seminar 1. Ensure the accuracy of your information and therefore appropriately reference your information in accordance with the AGLC: Acts, Cases, e.g., the Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic), or Swan v Uecker [2016] VSC 313.

Refer to the relevant legislation(s) (as this is the primary source of information). Don’t primarily use websites to reference legislative provisions. This is an exercise in reading and understanding the legislation. You need to navigate the relevant legislation.

Determine your own headings; consider the best number of them to use and the wording.

Do not simply cut and paste information. Rather, use your own words to explain the information to the client. Remember this is legal work, to be written formally. However, avoid excessive use of ‘legalese’ (technical and difficult to understand legal terms, such as Latin words) as your client won’t understand it. Use Plain English.

‘Turn It In’. A long reference list will lead to a high ‘Turn It In’ (TII) score, partly also as the word-limit is just 1,500. We allow for this, though your TII score should not exceed 40%.

Do not use tables or dot points (except in occasional instances where warranted).

Provide a title page, introduction, and body of report (broken into sections with headings), a conclusion and recommendation(s).

No executive summary or table of contents is required.

Your report should be professionally written with 5 line spacing, should include page numbers, and with no page borders.

We recommend searching online to view industry law reports and letters, as they will guide you on the succinct legal presentation required.

This is an individual task.

For assignment queries, use the discussion forum.

To help you to maximise your assessment and to improve your skills, this assignment will be marked in accordance with the marking criteria in the Rubric.

Learning Outcomes

This task allows you to demonstrate your achievement towards the Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs) which have been aligned to the Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs). Deakin GLOs describe the knowledge and capabilities graduates acquire and can demonstrate on completion of their course. This assessment task is an important tool in determining your achievement of the ULOs. If you do not demonstrate achievement of the ULOs you will not be successful in this unit. You are advised to familiarise yourself with these ULOs and GLOs as they will inform you on what you are expected to demonstrate for successful completion of this unit.

The learning outcomes that are aligned to this assessment task are:

Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs)

Graduate Learning Outcomes (GLOs)

• ULO3: Locate, analyse and cite pertinent sources of law impacting on property.
• GLO1: demonstrating legal knowledge
• GLO4: critically examining and evaluating legal documentation to support advice
• ULO4: Evaluate and analyse data on property legalities to propose informed recommendations.
• GLO1: demonstrating legal knowledge
  GLO5: Problem solving
• ULO5: Preparing an academic essay and (or) industry report. This is usually done in the form of a legal letter to a client.
• GLO2: Communicating information to a hypothetical client in order to inform decisions.

Summary of Assessment Requirements

This assessment required the student to act in the role of a legal researcher working for DK Law Firm, which specialises in property law. The task was to prepare a comprehensive legal report for a new client, Cassie McKay, regarding issues surrounding the property known as Red Gum Estate, located in Eastern Victoria. The assessment involved analyzing complex property law matters concerning unregistered mortgages, fraudulent practices by a financial service provider, co-ownership issues, and subsequent legal implications of property transfer and default.

The key pointers to be covered in the assessment included:

1. Whether Cassie can have the Forward Bank mortgage set aside and prevent Dennis and Trinity from completing settlement and registration.

2. Whether Chloe has any legal interest in the property and, if so, the nature of that interest.

3. Analysis of how the co-ownership between Cassie and Chad was registered (joint tenancy or tenants in common).

4. Whether the separation between Cassie and Chad in December 2023 severed their co-ownership.

The report was expected to adhere strictly to legal formalities, written in Plain English for client comprehension, based on proper legislative references, and structured professionally with appropriate headings, introduction, body, conclusion, and recommendations.

Approach Taken by the Academic Mentor

The academic mentor structured the guidance in a step-by-step process to help the student systematically develop a professional and comprehensive legal report.

Step 1: Understanding the Brief and the Client’s Needs

The mentor emphasized reading the assessment description carefully to fully understand the client’s situation and legal questions. The importance of viewing the matter from the client’s perspective was highlighted, ensuring that the advice provided would be practical and easy to understand.

Step 2: Research and Use of Primary Legal Sources

The mentor instructed the student to use the Austlii database to identify relevant legislation such as the Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic) and relevant case law such as Swan v Uecker [2016] VSC 313. The student was encouraged to avoid relying primarily on secondary sources like websites and instead to quote legislation directly with proper AGLC referencing.

Step 3: Structuring the Report

The mentor guided the student to structure the report with:

• A title page

• A clear introduction that outlines the purpose of the report

• Body sections divided logically by legal issues

• A conclusion summarizing the key findings

• Recommendations that are practical and client-focused

Step 4: Analysis of Key Issues

Each section was broken down:

• Issue 1: Mortgage Validity & Set Aside – The student was advised to analyze whether the mortgage registered by Forward Bank could be challenged due to forgery and lack of consent.

• Issue 2: Chloe’s Interest – Guidance was provided to examine Chloe’s potential equitable or proprietary interests in the land, considering the deed executed by Chad.

• Issue 3: Co-ownership Type – The student was shown how to assess whether the co-ownership was a joint tenancy or tenancy in common, and whether separation severed any joint tenancy rights.

Step 5: Focus on Plain English and Legal Clarity

The mentor stressed avoiding legal jargon and using plain, concise language. The student was told that the report must explain complex legal issues in a way Cassie could understand, without excessive legalese or Latin terms.

Step 6: Citation and Reference Integrity

The importance of correctly applying AGLC referencing was reinforced. The student was reminded to cite Acts and cases properly and to limit the reference list to only pertinent sources, in order to reduce the Turnitin similarity score.

Final Outcome Achieved

By following the mentor’s guidance, the student produced a well-structured legal report that covered all required assessment components:

• Analysis of Mortgage Validity : The report detailed that the mortgage could potentially be set aside due to forged signatures and lack of proper consent, supported by legislative references.

• Chloe’s Interest in the Property : The report explained that Chloe may have an equitable interest derived from the deed transfer but no registered legal title, and further advised on potential claims.

• Co-Ownership Analysis : The report provided a balanced assessment of joint tenancy versus tenancy in common, concluding that without specific evidence of the severance, the joint tenancy likely remained until Chad’s death.

• Practical Recommendations : The student provided actionable recommendations such as commencing legal proceedings to have the Forward Bank mortgage set aside, investigating Chloe’s possible equitable interest, and seeking orders to clarify ownership following Chad’s passing.

Learning Outcomes Covered

1. ULO3 – Locate, analyse, and cite pertinent sources of law impacting on property
   The student demonstrated the ability to research and cite relevant statutes and case law using Austlii and applied the Transfer of Land Act 1958 (Vic) and key case precedents appropriately.

2. ULO4 – Evaluate and analyse data on property legalities to propose informed recommendations
   The student critically evaluated the facts and legal principles, producing informed recommendations that were realistic and practical.

3. ULO5 – Prepare an academic essay or industry report
   The legal letter was formatted professionally, written clearly in Plain English, with structured arguments and formal presentation appropriate for a client report.

4. GLO1 – Demonstrating legal knowledge
   The student demonstrated a clear understanding of property law principles, particularly concerning mortgages, co-ownership, and fraudulent practices.

5. GLO2 – Communicating information to a hypothetical client in order to inform decisions
   The report was accessible and easy for Cassie to understand, avoiding legal jargon while providing concise, actionable advice.

6. GLO5 – Problem solving
   The student applied critical thinking to navigate through the complex scenario, identifying legal gaps and proposing strategic solutions.

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