Preparing to relocate to a retirement village is stressful. Retirement village contracts can be lengthy and difficult to understand and are substantially different from other contracts you may have encountered during your lifetime. It is a more complex transaction than buying and selling property.
Retirement village contracts usually include several documents which can be overwhelming. For instance, St Patrick’s Green in Kogarah provides prospective residents with a sublease, agreement for sublease, standard form village contract and a disclosure statement. It is important that you obtain legal advice and deal with any questions you may have in regards to the retirement village contract with a solicitor.
Your occupancy at a retirement village will be very different from your current experience of homeownership. For instance, if you are entering into a lease with the operator your rights will no longer be linked with ownership of property but will be the subject of a lease and associated documents and the Retirement Villages Act.
Retirement villages such as St Patrick’s Green in Kogarah require residents to enter into a sublease with the Operator. The sublease will establish your rights of occupancy and will contain the terms of the occupancy and your rights and responsibilities and those of the Operator. Other villages offer residents occupancy on the basis of a contract or loan/licence agreement. Some retirement villages are strata title or community title scheme villages. The documents provided to residents can contain difficult legal terminology and obtaining legal advice will help you understand your legal interest and obligations under the agreement to allow you to make an informed decision before you sign the documents.
Seeking expert advice from a solicitor will also help you understand the ingoing and ongoing costs under the retirement village contract. Retirement villages such as St Patrick’s Green Retirement Village will require residents to pay an ingoing contribution which is essentially an interest-free loan to the operator. You will also be required to pay recurrent charges throughout your residency. The calculation of recurrent charges can be complex and it is crucial that you understand the financial commitments under your agreement with the Operator. We will also explain to you the process of terminating a contract, the additional terms under your agreement and the Departure fee structure as. Some villages have no cap on the duration of the resident’s obligation to pay recurrent charges even after the resident has left the village.
We provide our clients with a letter of advice about your retirement village contract we will meet with you to discuss the agreements and answer your questions and give you the benefit of over 20 years of experience in advising clients on these matters. You then have the peace of mind of making an informed decision.
With help from an experienced retirement village contract law expert, you can get off on the right foot and take smart legal steps to protect your interest and future. Contact us today at 1800 770 780 or contact us via [email protected] to schedule a consultation with our experienced lawyers.