The applicant sought a beneficial interest in a residential property owned by his parents (the respondents) based on the equitable doctrines of proprietary estoppel and unjust enrichment.
The applicant claimed an oral agreement from 2005 to transfer title if he made mortgage payments and repaid the $100,000 downpayment.
The respondents admitted an oral agreement but asserted it expired in 2007 due to the applicant's failure to repay the downpayment by a May 2007 deadline, treating him as a long-term tenant.
The court dismissed the application, finding the applicant failed to prove proprietary estoppel or unjust enrichment.
The judge preferred the respondents' evidence, concluding the oral agreement was time-limited and had elapsed, and that the applicant was merely a tenant who received the benefit of living in the home for a reasonable rent.
The Certificate of Pending Litigation on the property was lifted.
