It was meant to be a standard residential house purchase. Instead, one delayed bank transfer turned into a financial wipeout for Brisbane buyer Stephen Evans.
His $985,000 deal for a Shailer Park property was locked in on 23 January 2024 under a contract requiring payment of a 10% deposit that day.
After electronically signing the contract, Evans discovered his bank had a daily transfer limit of $50,000.
Nothing was paid that day but the next morning, he transferred $45,000 and texted the agent: “Do apologise deposit today and balance tomorrow Very sorry bank is painful to deal with.” The agent replied: “Ok. As long as I let seller know. Two deposits today and tmr.”
Evans thought that meant he was in the clear.
He wasn’t.
The rest of the deposit arrived across two separate payments on 25 January. But while the money was finally landing in the account, the seller’s lawyers were preparing to pounce.
That very afternoon, they fired off a legal warning: why shouldn’t the contract be terminated? Four days later, they pulled the pin, axed the contract, and declared the full $98,500 deposit forfeited.
Evans took the fight to Queensland’s Supreme Court, arguing that the real estate agent had effectively agreed to the two-day payment plan. He claimed he relied on those text messages and accused the seller of playing along quietly while the clock ran out.
But the court wasn’t buying it.
Justice Michael Copley ruled that the agent had no authority to change the contract’s payment terms. The agent could accept the money but couldn’t negotiate deadlines. And while Evans claimed to have relied on the agent’s text, the judge found he had already started transferring funds before receiving the reply — meaning he was setting his own payment schedule.
The court emphasised that the contract condition making time is “of the essence,” means exactly that. No grace periods. If you miss the deadline — even by a single day — you risk termination by reason of the breach.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Evans’ claim for specific performance of the contract he signed was thrown out. The seller, Yea Lan Jan, walked away with the entire $98,500 deposit, plus interest and legal costs.
