The contentious court case between Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS) and one of its clients, Winston Charles, has taken another turn in court without a clear resolution.
In its just-published judgment, the Supreme Court rejected an application from Mr. Charles and VMBS in relation to a mediation agreement between the parties.
The battle started in 2011 after VMBS sold Mr. Charles' Long Mountain property in St. Andrew by private treaty because of arrears in the mortgage.
The property was sold for $24.5 million but Mr. Charles contended that it was grossly undervalued and worth at least $40 million.
He sued the company in 2011 but the case dragged through the system until mediation was scheduled in 2020.
The parties arrived at an agreement but the terms were confidential and only the Mediation Report was filed with the Supreme Court.
Mr. Charles later took issue with the terms of the agreement and filed his application saying there was no binding agreement while VMBS filed an application asking the court to enforce the terms of the agreement as it was binding.
The court in its judgment explained that based on the Civil Procedure Rules, even though the terms of the agreement were not disclosed, the settlement could be viewed as a contract so it was binding even if it was not made into a formal order of the court.
The court argued that a remedy was already available for the contract to be enforced.
With this dismissal, both parties will have to continue with other proceedings to bring the matter to an end.
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