Retirement Villages Act 1999 |
On 1 March 2012, amendments to the Retirement Villages Act 1999 commenced, to clarify the circumstances in which the exit fee must be calculated on a daily pro rata basis. These amendments provide fairness and certainty for retirement village residents in how their exit fee will be calculated.
An exit fee is the amount paid under a residence contract to a retirement village operator by a resident when they leave a village. The fee is normally included in the residence contract and usually increases the longer a resident stays in a village.
The amendments apply where an exit fee is calculated with regard to the length of time the resident has lived in their unit. Under a daily pro rata method of calculation, the actual number of days of occupation would be used to calculate the exit fee. In contrast, under an annual incremental method of calculation, a resident leaving the village after one year and one day would pay an exit fee based on two whole years of occupation.
Under the new laws, for all future residence contracts, the daily pro rata method of calculation applies. In addition, a daily pro rata method of calculation applies to existing contracts where the contract does not specify another basis for calculation.
The amendments were introduced via the Civil Proceedings Act 2011, which along with the Explanatory Notes, can be found on the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel website.
Last reviewed 01/03/2012 |
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