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Lawrie Robertson
Unit 263/57 Gloucester Avenue
Berwick
Victoria 3806
16 July 2013
Consumer Affairs Victoria
Regulation & Policy Division
121 Exhibition Street,
Melbourne VIC 3001
By E-mail to [email protected]
Greetings,
Retirement Village Disclosure and Contract Regulations – Grief and Time to Vacate
This submission draws on my personal experience living in a retirement village. It focuses
on provisions in some occupancy and loan-lease contracts dealing with the death of the last
surviving resident of a unit.
It is my contention that some contract provisions do not allow a grieving family anywhere
near adequate time to clear out a unit.
My contract is silent on the question of time to vacate on death. The operator (20 villages in
Victoria) has generally allowed residents with the same contract adequate time to clear the
unit. However, the contract offered to new residents allows only 14 days. The operator has
offered a new contract to existing residents. This contract allows 45 days, negotiated up
from 14 days by the residents’ committee.
It is my observation that typical families take somewhere between 60 days and 90 days to
clear a unit. Some families start the clear-out almost immediately, but very few finish within
14 days. Others are reluctant, or unable (say, because they live interstate), to enter the unit
for some time after the funeral and so the time taken is more likely to be at the upper end of
the typical range. Some families take longer than 90 days.
To best understand why it takes so long to clear out a unit, it is useful to think in terms of
weekends. Two or three weekends pass while the family deals with the funeral and gets
organised. Sorting out the items in the unit (e.g. items of sentimental value but of no
monetary value, items of monetary value to be distributed in specie, items of monetary value
to sell, items to give to a charity and items to take to the tip) and packing the smaller ones up
takes another two or three weekends. Another two or three weekends can pass before the
relevant parties turn up to take the items away. Add in further delays caused by extended
grief, other family commitments or interstate family members and it is clear why typical
families take between 60 and 90 days.
The operator denies the time to vacate on death provisions of its contracts are harsh, and
cites a willingness to respond favourably to reasonable requests for more time. This is of
little value. Firstly, time to vacate is too important a matter for a “trust me” approach.
Secondly, it is unlikely that many families will know of this unwritten ten-year old (say)
promise. Moreover, the operator argues that it is in the best interest of the families to clear
out the unit quickly. Yes, there could be financial advantages but it could also be that some
families put a higher value on emotional matters. On the other hand, it is clear that the
operator is almost always focussed on accessing revenue released on re-leasing units.
Fourteen days to clear out a unit following the death of a family member is clearly
unreasonable. Forty five days is better, but it puts the majority of families under pressure at
a time when they could still be grieving. Ninety days will still put some families under
pressure, but offers a more realistic balance between the needs of families and the needs of
operators.
It is my submission that the amended contractual arrangements regulations should protect
families from the possibility that unscrupulous operators might apply pressure to clear out
units by an unrealistic date. Perhaps the regulations might require operators to allow
families a reasonable time (say 90 days) to clear out a unit, to not unreasonably deny a
request for an extension of time and to give 14 days notice of any intention to exercise any
right to remove private property from as unit.
Yours faithfully
Lawrie Robertson