Walking away on $1.24m Huge penalty for Surfers unit buyer who welshed on deal

PULLING the pin on an offthe-plan luxury Surfers Paradise unit will cost a buyer almost as much as the apartment itself.

Patricia Parniczky agreed to purchase the off-the-plan apartment in the Orchid Tower of the Hilton Surfers Paradise for $1.56 million in 2008 on behalf of her family trust. However, a court this week ordered she and trust pay $1.24 million for reneging on the deal.

Ms Parniczky put down a $156,000 deposit and guaranteed the full payment after a separate title was created and the plan registered.

But things went sour for the Hilton development after the Raptis Group ran into financial strife and in 2009 the project was taken over by the ANZ and Brookfield Multiplex.

By 2011 when the title was finalised for Ms Parniczky, prices had plummeted and she refused to complete the contract.

Two years later the apartment was resold for $796,000 – about half the original sale price.

Now the Raptis company behind the development, Orchid Avenue Pty Ltd, has launched legal action to sue Ms Parniczky for damages as- sociated with reneging on the deal. Up to 100 similar cases involving buyers who pulled out of purchases within the Hilton Surfers Paradise have been filed in court.

Ms Parniczky, as trustee for the Parniczky Family Trust, filed a counter claim and alleged the contract was void because it had been induced by oral misrepresentations about the availability of finance.

The counter claim further alleged that Ms Parniczky was not authorised to enter into a contract on behalf of the Parniczky Family Trust.

In the Brisbane Supreme Court this week Judge Martin Burns ruled in favour of the company after Ms Parniczky failed to turn up to the trial.

In the written judgment, Mr Burns said the allegations from the counter claim had not been supported by any evidence. Mr Burns said he had “no doubt” that Ms Parniczky was aware the trial was to start this week.

The court was told that Ms Parniczky was a “sophisticated and experienced purchaser of property” with at least 10 separate properties in New South Wales and Western Australia.

Mr Burns ordered Ms Parniczky and Parniczky Family Trust pay $1.24 million to Orchid Avenue Pty Ltd to cover resale costs, the difference between the original sale price and resell price and interest.