Recently at NCAT
12/05/2016
Since the commencement of the Residential (Land Lease) Communities Act 2013 on 1 November 2015 we have been keeping an eye on decisions coming out of NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) to see how the various provisions are being interpreted. In this issue of Outasite Lite we report on an unpublished decision concerning assignment.
What is assignment?
When you sell your home assignment allows you to transfer (or assign) your site agreement to the buyer.
The issue
The home owner sold the home and requested that the site agreement be assigned to the purchaser. The operator refused this request and offered the purchaser a new site agreement in which the site fees were set at $320 a fortnight – the current home owner was paying $253. The terms of the new agreement were not agreeable to the purchaser.
The decision
The current home owner made an application to NCAT seeking an order that the operator consent to the assignment. The Member found that operator’s refusal to assign the agreement was unreasonable. Orders were made requiring the operator to effect the assignment within seven days and that the assignment would be deemed to be executed if the operator failed to do or comply with the first order.