Not for circulation

****************
Not for circulation
****************

UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

FACULTY OF LAW
2021-2022

LAND LAW II
(LLAW 2014/ JDOC 2004)

May Examination

Date: Thursday, 12 May 2022

Time: 9.30 am – 12 noon (including 10 minutes reading time)

General Instructions:

This is an OPEN BOOK examination. You are permitted to use your own notes, handouts and
duplicated materials provided by lecturers, Goo & Lee, Land Law in Hong Kong, and a
dictionary. Access to internet for internet searching and crowdsourcing from group messages,
online forums or social media, etc. are strictly forbidden.

This paper consists of a compulsory long question. Answer ALL parts of the question. The
weighting of each part is indicated at the end of it. This paper counts for 50% of the final
examination mark.

This paper consists of TWO pages plus THREE pages of attachments (FIVE pages in total).

The Question

In September 2017, Charles bought a five-storey old building, built in 1985, in Soho for $50 million.
He paid 50% of the purchase price out of the proceeds of sale from the sale of his previous apartment
in Happy Valley after paying off the loan owed to ABC Bank that financed the purchase of his
previous apartment. (His wife contributed 50% to the purchase price for the Happy Valley
apartment). His wife contributed another 10% to the purchase price for the building. The remaining
40% of the purchase price for the building came from a loan from CCB Bank. His wife, however,
did not know about the loan from CCB Bank as she was told by Charles that he needed only her 10%
contribution to complete the purchase.

There was one apartment on each floor. In May 2018, he divided the apartment on each floor (except
the top floor apartment) into five rooms, four with a bathroom and lavatory, en suite, and one with
the exclusive use of a bathroom across the corridor. Apart from the corridor which gives access to
the rooms, there is no other common area. Cooking and pets in the rooms are not allowed. Each
room is furnished with a double bed, a bedside table and a built-in cabinet. Charges for occupancy
1
 Not for circulation

are on a weekly or monthly basis payable in advance, and a deposit of $10,000 is required in either
case. Two days' notice of leaving is required to be given by the tenant. The government lease for
the building provides that it "… shall not be used for any purpose other than for non-industrial
(excluding godown, hotel, shop, restaurant) purposes."

Answer ALL the questions below, indicating what further information you require:

(a) Ben rented a room in the building on 1 July 2021 without any formal agreement, at a rental of
$5000 per month. He is given a key to his room and a key to the building. On 15 December
2021, Charles wanted to increase the rental to $6000 per month. Ben refused to oblige,
whereupon Charles asked Ben to vacate the room at once. Advise Ben. Would it make any
difference if the relevant date when Charles asked Ben to leave is not 15 December 2021, but
15 February 2022? (25 marks)

(b) There is a three-storey building next door, which was bought recently by Albert. Albert wants
to replace it with a ten-storey residential building which will block the windows on the 4th
and 5th floors. Is there anything Charles can do to stop this? (15 marks)

(c) Charles let the top floor apartment to David (see attached tenancy agreement), a young
professional working in Central. A year later, David sublet the apartment without Charles’s
consent to Eddie who carried out some renovation without Charles’s consent. What could
Charles do about the subletting and renovation? (30 marks)

(d) Charles has recently lost a lot of money due to the impact of Covid 19 on his business. He
has been late for his mortgage repayments by two months and he has difficulty either selling
the building or borrowing more money from the bank. The property is estimated currently to
be worth only $35 million. Can CCB Bank sell Charles’s property with vacant possession? If
the outstanding loan amount is $17.2 million, how much of the proceeds of sale would be
available to CCB Bank to satisfy the loan, and why? (30 marks)

- End of Paper -