Amandip Sahi

The plaintiffs, Qi Sen Li and Li Jin, brought a motion for summary judgment seeking specific performance of an Agreement of Purchase and Sale (APS) or, alternatively, damages for breach of contract and return of a deposit.

The court dismissed the motion, finding that the plaintiffs failed to discharge their initial evidentiary burden to demonstrate that there was no genuine issue requiring a trial.

The decision highlighted deficiencies in the plaintiffs' evidence, particularly the reliance on an affidavit from a non-party to the contract (Li Jin) and the absence of evidence from the actual purchaser (Qi Sen Li) regarding key contractual elements such as deposit payment, waiver of conditions, and readiness to tender.

The applicants, elderly parents, sought an order vesting title to a residential property registered in their daughter's name, claiming a purchase money resulting trust, bare trust, or constructive trust.

The property was purchased by their son, who later gifted it to the daughter.

The parents claimed they had paid for a previous property whose sale proceeds funded the current one, and that they contributed to upkeep.

The court dismissed the application, finding insufficient evidence that the parents contributed to the purchase price, no written agreement or certainty of intention for a bare trust, and no unjust enrichment to support a constructive trust, as the parents had lived rent-free in the properties for years.