Maya Boyle’s dream is to buy her very own apartment unit in Sydney. After a 6-month search, she’s ecstatic to finally find the perfect unit, a brand new 2-bedroom unit located in Kirrawee. 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 Moonlight Finance’s website and found that the franchise principal for the company in the Northern Beaches is Benjamin Owen. A photo of Benjamin’s dignified face appears in Moonlight Finance’s website, along with his full name ‘Benjamin Owen’ and below it, his title, “Moonlight Finance franchise principal – Kirrawee, Sydney.” Maya calls Benjamin’s mobile number and makes an appointment for him to visit her at her place the following Saturday morning. Unknown to Maya, that Friday morning, Benjamin’s franchise contract with Moonlight Finance had already been terminated by the company for breach; as a result Benjamin was no longer connected with the company.

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

Advise Maya on the legal issues presented by the above case. Is Moonlight Finance obligated to honour the loan approval and grant Maya the loan?