Court documents allege hand­written amendments made to contract after Geelong silos sale

The highest bidder in an auction of 83-year-old Geelong silos must remove caveats over the land after it was sold to a third party, the Supreme Court of Victoria has ordered.

The highest bidder in the public online auction of Geelong’s Roy St silos has been ordered to remove caveats over the land after the property was sold to a third party.

Bek Cetinkaya placed the winning bid – of $1.25m – on the 83-year-old concrete silos during an online auction on September 9.

Supreme Court of Victoria documents reveal the vendor, Maverick Signs Pty Ltd, ­accepted the winning bid from Mr Cetinkaya.

At 1.31pm and 2.55pm, Mr Cetinkaya was sent an email from the selling agent with a link to the online contract.

At 3.40pm, he received a further email that said the contract was void.

The documents allege hand­written amendments were made to the contract by Mr Cetinkaya that neither the vendor nor estate agent had agreed to.

“The plaintiff deposes that the handwritten amendments had not been discussed, ­approved or authorised by the plaintiff or (the agent),” the court documents state.

Soon before that email was sent, Mr Cetinkaya made a $12,000 part-payment of the deposit and emailed a signed copy of the amended contract.

Bek Cetinkaya placed the winning bid of $1.25m on the 83-year-old concrete silos during an online auction on September 9. Picture: Alan Barber

At 3.59pm, the estate agent contacted Mr Cetinkaya and said the land had been sold to a third party.

“(Mr Cetinkaya) deposes that (the agent) did not advise him of any parallel discussions between (the agent) and the third party,” the documents state.

Having been advised of the sale to the third party, Mr Cetinkaya lodged a caveat over the property to prevent anyone else registering or dealing with the land.

On October 14, he started proceedings in the County Court of Victoria, seeking to enforce the amended contract of sale he signed against the vendor.

According to the Supreme Court documents, that proceeding is in its infancy and no trial date is on the horizon.

The Supreme Court ­accepted the vendor’s application and ordered removal of the caveats.

Associate Justice Mary-Jane Ierodiaconou said the balance of convenience favoured removal of the caveat.

“There is an executed contract of sale between the plaintiff and the third party. The caveat interferes with that contract,” Justice Ierodiaconou said.

The decision will allow the third party to become the registered owner of the land and complete settlement.

Originally published as Court documents allege hand­written amendments made to contract after Geelong silos sale