Gaya Coyles dream is to buy her very own apartment unit in Syd. After a 6-month search, shes ecstatic to finally find the perfect unit, a brand new 2-bedroom unit located in Bankstown. She made an offer. After just a week, she becomes even ecstatic because the developer of the unit accepted her offer, which is actually lower than the advertised price. On Friday afternoon of that same week, she checked Sunlight Finances website and found that the franchise principal for the company in the Canterbury-Bankstown is Ben O'gill. A photo of Bens dignified face appears in Sunlight Finances website, along with his full name Ben O'gill and below it, his title, Sunlight Finance franchise principal Bankstown, Syd. Gaya calls Bens mobile number and makes an appointment for him to visit her at her place the following Saturday morning. Unknown to Gaya, that Friday morning, Bens franchise contract with Sunlight Finance had already been terminated by the company for breach; as a result Benjamin was no longer connected with the company.

The next morning, Ben drives up to Gayas house in a Sunlight Finance Company car. When he comes into the house, he is wearing the shirt with the Sunlight Finance logo emblazoned on the left shirt pocket. He hands out his Sunlight Finance business card to Gaya, which contains the same job title as that stated in the website. After discussing Gayas lending requirements and assessing her financial capacity, Benj approves a $775,000 loan for Gaya. Ben and Gaya sign the loan contract, which is in the standard form used by Sunlight Finance and bears the companys name. The following week, Gaya pays the deposit and calls Sunlight Finance to draw down on the loan. The company informs her that as of last Friday, Ben was no longer connected with the company for the reason stated above. Sunlight Finance tells Gaya that the company is under no obligation to honour the loan approval that Ben had given Gaya, nor the contract that they entered into for that purpose. Gaya comes to you for advice.

Advise Gaya on the legal issues presented by the above case. Is Sunlight Finance obligated to honour the loan approval and grant Gaya the loan? Discuss all your answers citing relevant case law and/or legislation from Australian law.