An Auckland company argued it shouldn't have to pay a ten per cent deposit on a cancelled $7.3 million property purchase because its director didn't understand English.
But a High Court judge was satisfied that the director, Helen Liang, is "much better at English than she has let on" and found in the seller's favour over the $730,000 deposit.
Liang's company, Golden Garden, runs a restaurant on Auckland's North Shore and earlier this year it put forward a $7.3m offer for a 4.4 hectare property in Kumeu.
Although Golden Garden's offer was accepted, its cheque for the $730,000 deposit was dishonoured.
The property's owners - Hongwei Zhao and Zhidong Huang - then cancelled the agreement and sued Golden Garden.
Although the pair have since resold the property, it was for less than the amount in Golden Garden's offer and is not due to settle under 2017.
Zhao and Huang chased Golden Garden over the $730,000 deposit and both sides squared off in the High Court at Auckland earlier this month for a summary judgment hearing.
In defending the bid, Golden Garden argued that Liang was under a language "disability" and that the purchase agreement was void.......