High Court settles Erin land battle, dismisses lawsuits against landowner - Trinidad and Tobago Newsday

High Court settles Erin land battle, dismisses lawsuits against landowner - Trinidad and Tobago Newsday =============== [](https://newsday.co.tt/) * [News](https://newsday.co.tt/category/news/) * [Latest News](https://newsday.co.tt/latest/) * [Sports](https://newsday.co.tt/category/sports/) * [Sections](https://newsday.co.tt/2026/01/07/high-court-settles-erin-land-battle-dismisses-lawsuits-against-landowner/# "Sections") * [Tobago](https://newsday.co.tt/category/tobago/) * [Business](https://newsday.co.tt/category/business/) * [Features](https://newsday.co.tt/category/features/) * [Opinion](https://newsday.co.tt/category/opinion/) * [Special Publications](https://newsday.co.tt/category/special-publications/) * [Classifieds](https://newsday.co.tt/newsday_classifieds/Daily%20Classifieds.pdf) * [Multimedia](https://newsday.co.tt/category/multimedia/) * [Collections](https://newsday.co.tt/collections/) [_Newsday on Facebook_](https://www.facebook.com/ttnewsday "Newsday on Facebook")[_Newsday on Instagram_](https://www.instagram.com/ttnewsday "Newsday on Instagram")[_Newsday on Twitter_](https://twitter.com/newsday_tt "Newsday on Twitter")[_Newsday on YouTube_](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3pLjximivazMST1XP4PNpw/videos "Newsday on YouTube")[_Newsday on LinkedIn_](https://www.linkedin.com/company/newsdaytt "Newsday on LinkedIn")[](https://newsday.mediafiles.fi/?auth=191129120827_public-fLMsQ0wZC56AsQ4owWUxPgeMUjBa7bv2Ne29gkULxG8 "N Touch") [News](https://newsday.co.tt/category/news) High Court settles Erin land battle, dismisses lawsuits against landowner ========================================================================= [Jada Loutoo](https://newsday.co.tt/reporter/jada-loutoo)2 Hrs Ago High Court Judge Karen Reid - A High Court judge has dismissed a series of claims seeking specific performance of land sale agreements against a landowner’s estate, finding no proof he authorised the sales, while awarding more than $4.85 million in refunds against two developers who took purchasers’ money without authority. In a ruling delivered by Justice Karen Reid on January 6, the court held that Glenn Thomas and Mass Contracting Company Ltd were not authorised to enter into sale agreements or collect payments on Joseph Dhanoosingh’s behalf and that the claimants failed to prove the owner directed or ratified those transactions. The consolidated proceedings arose from agreements for the sale of residential lots at Jackson Trace, Buenos Ayres, Erin. In 2019, the two claimants who filed the first claim – Fitzroy Williams and Neil Bishop – were appointed to represent some 61 other people who also alleged they were conned by a real estate agent and a contracting company out of millions of dollars for parcels of land. The claimants alleged Thomas, acting as a real estate agent, sold the lands on behalf of Dhanoosingh through Mass Contracting, which had an exclusive agency agreement with the owner dated February 10, 2016. Justice Reid found the February 2016 agreement permitted advertising and site visits but required payments to be made to the owner and did not authorise written agreements for sale or the collection of deposits or purchase prices by the agent or developer. The court also found the owner was not a party to any of the purchasers’ agreements, which identified the developers as vendors. “I do not find that the claimants have proven their case on a balance of probabilities.” She said there was no evidence that Dhanoosingh attended any meeting or gave any assurances or directives to them to enter into agreements for sale with Thomas and Mass Contracting Company Ltd or pay any monies to them. “There is absolutely no evidence proving or corroborating any involvement by the third defendant (Dhanoosingh) in the claimants’ transactions.” The judge further found as a fact that Thomas and Mass Contracting were not authorised to enter into any agreements for the sale of Dhanoosingh’s land, nor to represent themselves as owners of the land. She held that the contract between Mass Contracting and Dhanoosingh expressly established that the company was an independent contractor and that the third defendant was not bound by any representations or agreements made by it or Thomas. The judge concluded that there was no evidence of either actual or ostensible authority for the first and/or second defendants to enter into the agreements with the claimants. “Not only do I find that the first and/or second defendant had no actual authority to enter into the agreements with the claimants, I find that there is no evidence upon which I can properly come to a finding that the first and/or second defendant had any ostensible authority to do so.” In addition, the judge observed that none of the agreements purported to have been executed by Thomas and Mass Contracting as Dhanoosingh’s agents, that the agreements expressly required payments to be made to the landowner, and that accepting payments or holding themselves out as vendor or owner of the land was plainly outside the scope of the authority conferred by the Feburary 10, 2016 agreement. “In the circumstances, therefore, I find that the actions against the third defendant must all be dismissed.” The claims against Ronald Singh, as administrator ad litem of Dhanoosingh’s estate, were dismissed. The court ordered the claimants to pay 50 per cent of the estate’s prescribed costs, calculated on the damages awarded against the developers, calculated at $4.8 million. Because Thomas and Mass Contracting failed to defend the case, the court entered judgment against them for damages representing monies proven to have been paid by the dozens of purchasers, totalling $4,854,500. Specific performance was refused because the developers were not the landowners. “It is clear that specific performance of the agreements for sale cannot be ordered as the first and second defendants are not the owners of the land. “However, judgment will be given for the claimants against the first and second defendants for the monies proven to have been paid by them to the first and second defendants.” The court also granted relief on an ancillary claim by Dhanoosingh’s estate, declaring it not liable for the acts or omissions of the developers, also ordering Thomas and Mass Contracting to pay 50 per cent of the estate’s prescribed costs incurred in defending the main proceedings. Thomas and Mass Contracting were absent and unrepresented. The claimants were represented by Gilbert Peterson, SC, and Amerelle Francis. Josiah Soo Hon also represented them when their claims were filed. Dhanoosingh's estate was represented by Chanka Persadsingh and Kiran Lutchmedial. According to their claim, the prospective buyers said they responded to a newspaper advertisement for the sale of land in Erin. They contacted the agent and all 68 of them paid various sums, amounting to more than $7 million. Some of them made down payments, and others paid the full price for the land. They were shown the development plan for the lands as well as Town and Country approvals before making their payments. They said that when they attempted to contact the agent and the landowner to complete the sale, they were only given a photocopy of their deed of conveyance. 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