The Court of Final Appeal (TUI) announced yesterday that it has turned down Polytex Import and Export Company Limited’s appeal against rulings by the Court of First Instance (TJB) and the Court of Second Instance (TSI) regarding civil compensation cases filed by several Pearl Horizon pre-sale buyers.
The TJB and TSI rulings ordered Polytex, the developer of the ill-fated Pearl Horizon residential project, to pay the buyers (the plaintiffs) double the amount of their initial deposits as compensation.
The top court confirmed its decision to reject Polytex’s appeal in a statement released yesterday.
Polytex failed to complete the Pearl Horizon residential project before the plot’s provisional land concession expired in late 2015, leading the government to annul the concession in early 2016. Polytex subsequently sued the government over the cancellation.
The Court of Second Instance rejected the developer’s appeal against the cancellation in 2017. In response, Polytex appealed to the Court of Final Appeal, which ultimately upheld the government’s decision to cancel the site’s provisional land concession in 2018.
Following this, various Pearl Horizon pre-sale buyers filed civil complaints with the TJB and TSI, demanding that the developer pay double their deposit amounts in compensation.
Both lower courts previously ruled in favour of the pre-sale buyers. Polytex then challenged those decisions by filing appeals with the Court of Final Appeal.
Yesterday, the TUI announced it had rejected Polytex’s final appeal. According to the court’s statement, the ruling covers 14 plaintiffs demanding compensation from Polytex.
As a result of the top court dismissing the appeal, the developer is now required to pay the plaintiffs a total of HK$91 million.
The case concerned the pre-sale buyers’ down-payments (‘sinal’ in Portuguese*) when they signed their promissory contracts.
*In Portuguese law, which also applies to Macau, a ‘sinal’ is not a mere advance payment but carries specific legal weight. If the buyer backs out, they lose the ‘sinal’. If the seller backs out, they typically have to return the ‘sinal’ in double. – Gemini
This file photo taken in May 2018 shows a car travelling past the then mothballed Pearl Horizon residential construction site in Areia Preta district. The site is where the government-developed “home swap” housing and temporary housing estates are now located. – Photo: Iong Tat Choi
