The ABC reports - For almost a decade, pensioners Trish Reece and her husband Wayne have been living in a gated village in Shepparton in regional Victoria, run by the controversial land lease operator Lifestyle Communities.
Now they want to get out.
"We don't want to live here anymore," she says.
But she says they are stuck, financially, due to the so-called exit fees charged by the company when a resident sells their home.
For the full story click the link below -
Retirement Village Horror Stories Continue
"Living in a retirement village has the capacity to be a great lifestyle decision, sadly it also has the capacity to be your very worst financial decision." - RETVILLDOTNET.
An example for a village with the Deferred Management Fee calculated on the ingoing $$$.
An example for a village with the Deferred Management Fee calculated on the ingoing $$$.
"My father must have been one of the few people who lost money when he sold his home in a booming Melbourne property market. This huge loss on his home, in a popular suburb not far from the CBD, was despite it selling for more than he paid for it.
The problem? He bought into a retirement village." - Diana Thorp. Sunday Herald Sun. 22/08/21
An example for a village with the Deferred Management Fee calculated on the outgoing $$$.
An example for a village with the Deferred Management Fee calculated on the outgoing $$$.
Monday 29 July 2024
Sunday 21 July 2024
How an idyllic retirement village became a 'financial prison'
After spending 36 years investigating shoplifters, drug trafficking, burglary, fraud and deception, it was time for the quiet life.
Seduced by promises of low maintenance and resort-style living at an affordable price, he bought into a Lifestyle Communities development at Wollert, impressed with its high-security cameras and boom gates that guarded a manufactured urban landscape of neat rows of uniform houses and perfectly manicured fake lawns.
It was a setting reminiscent of the Hollywood movie The Truman Show.
"The way it was presented to me and my wife, I expected everything to be above board, knowing that I'm dealing with Lifestyle, a publicly listed company," he says.
"I did my homework, and I checked on them. And I would have assumed that everything was kosher."
But 18 months later, earlier this year, he and two other residents, Thom Meads and Steve Doudle, found themselves investigating the utopia they thought they'd bought into.
"To me, it's like I'm in a financial prison," Gauci says.
"I've got to bail myself out in order to get out, and it's just wrong."
Watch the full ABC 7.30 program report.
Watch the full ABC 7.30 program report.
Retirement Villagers pushed to the brink as fees go 'through the roof'
Meet the seniors who feel 'trapped' as fees at their retirement village go 'through the roof' -
Retirees face $200,000 loss following notice to vacate villas
Retirees face $200,000 loss following notice to vacate villas -
Retirement Village Village residents demand to know where their money has been going
A group of New South Wales retirees claim RSL LifeCare is seeking exorbitant fees from them for upkeep of their retirement village in Sydney's north-west and they want to know where their strata money has been going.
Retirement Village broken aircon has elderly couple facing bankruptcy
Two Australian pensioners claim they feared losing their home after being issued a bankruptcy notice just before Christmas, two years after losing a legal battle against their retirement village over an air conditioning unit.
Tuesday 16 July 2024
Are Lifestyle Communities a Financial Prison
In a recent feature on the ABC 7.30 Report program claims were made that living in a Lifestyle Village was like a 'financial prison'.
Feature of the report -
'When retired policeman Geoff Gauci packed up his old life and moved to an over-50s gated community on Melbourne's northern fringe, he pictured his next chapter as peaceful.
After spending 36 years investigating shoplifters, drug trafficking, burglary, fraud and deception, it was time for the quiet life.
Seduced by promises of low maintenance and resort-style living at an affordable price, he bought into a Lifestyle Communities development at Wollert, impressed with its high-security cameras and boom gates that guarded a manufactured urban landscape of neat rows of uniform houses and perfectly manicured fake lawns.
It was a setting reminiscent of the Hollywood movie The Truman Show.
"The way it was presented to me and my wife, I expected everything to be above board, knowing that I'm dealing with Lifestyle, a publicly listed company," he says.
"I did my homework, and I checked on them. And I would have assumed that everything was kosher."
But 18 months later, earlier this year, he and two other residents, Thom Meads and Steve Doudle, found themselves investigating the utopia they thought they'd bought into.
"To me, it's like I'm in a financial prison," Gauci says.
"I've got to bail myself out in order to get out, and it's just wrong." '
See the full story here - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-15/lifestyle-communities-faces-challenge-over-land-lease-exit-fees/104091890
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Function of Government
The role of government is to create an environment for commerce to function whilst at the same time protecting retirees and particularly vulnerable retirees from both financial and emotional harm emanating from that function.
The Victorian Retirement Villages Act 1986 provides the environment for commerce to function but fails to fully protect retirees from financial and emotional harm as a result of it.
The Victorian legislative definition of a retirement village in demanding the payment of an 'in-going' amount without the transfer of property ownership is a major contributor to that financial and emotional harm suffered by retirees.
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