Kate wants to open a flowery shop in a shopping mall and saw an advertisement as follows: “Apple Mall is inviting you to join this unique Mall comprising of the latest entertainment, dining experience and 5-star hotel like no other place! Contact our general manager, Vincent for details.” Kate made an appointment with the general manager Vincent, to see if there is any unit that is suitable for her flowery shop. 

They met at Apple Mall which was still under construction and Vincent gladly showed the floor plan to Kate and said “You are very smart to consider Apple Mall – we are very popular and there’s just 1 shop left!” Kate told Vincent about her plan to run a flowery shop targeting at high-end customers, therefore she would only choose a mall that could offer that type of customers. Kate did not see any 5-star hotel on the floor plan and asked Vincent, who replied that the name of the 5-star hotel was a top secret and so could not be shown on the floor plan. In fact Vincent knew that the hotel with whom a tenancy agreement was signed by him representing the landlord that morning, was only a 2-star one. 

Vincent further said that he planned to invite 2 Michelin star restaurants to join Apple Mall in the near future. Kate thought that having a 5-star hotel and 2 Michelin star restaurants in Apple Mall could easily attract those high-end customers and was very interested in taking up the only shop left. Yet she wanted to know if her flowery shop would be the only one at Apple Mall as she did not have the confidence to compete with another flowery shop in the same Mall. Vincent then diligently checked the floor plan and replied “Indeed – yours will be the only flowery shop in Apple Mall!” Kate was happy about what Vincent had told her and signed the tenancy agreement right away. 

Three months later, when Apple Mall was about to open, Kate discovered that the hotel was a 2-star one, there was no Michelin star restaurant, just 2 fast food restaurants, and that one of the shops was in fact let to a flowery shop – that tenancy was handled by Vincent’s secretary who carelessly described that as “food shop” on the floor plan which Vincent was holding on the day he met Kate. Kate was very worried as she spent no less than HK$500,000 in designing and renovating the flowery shop. Even worse, When Kate visited Apple Mall, there was some water on the floor and Kate slipped on the water. As a result, Kate had to stay in the hospital for three months and she failed to open her flowery shop on time. Not only she failed to earn the profits she expected to earn in these three months, she also had to cancel all her contracts with suppliers. When Kate sued Apple Mall for the loss she has suffered, Vincent pointed to the notice, which was posted at Apple Mall’s customer service counter, and said, “According to this notice, we are not responsible for any death, personal injury and property loss inside our Mall!”

(a) Advise Kate’s rights and remedies against Apple Mall under contract law. Use case laws and ordinance to support your analysis.

(b) Advise Kate’s rights and remedies against Apple Mall under tort of negligence. Use case laws and ordinance to support your analysis.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

In the abovegiven case Kate wanted to open a flowery shop in a shopping mall and approached Vincent the General Manager of Apple mall to discuss the u... View the full answer