Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Retirement Villages Act 2003

Registration, occupation right agreements, and related requirements and rules - Occupation right agreements

28: Cooling-off period and cancellation for delay

You could also call this:

"Cancel your retirement village agreement within 15 working days or if it's not ready on time"

Illustration for Retirement Villages Act 2003

When you sign an occupation right agreement, you can cancel it within 15 working days without giving a reason. You can do this by giving notice in writing that shows you want to cancel the agreement. You can give this notice to the operator or their representative. If the residential unit is not finished within 6 months of the proposed completion date, you can cancel the agreement at any time after that. You can give the notice to the operator, the real estate agent, or someone the operator says can receive notices on their behalf. The operator can ask for reasonable compensation for services they provided or damage to the unit before the cancellation takes effect. The agreement might have a cancellation provision that is more favourable to you, but if it does not, or if it is less favourable, the standard provision applies. This means you still have the right to cancel the agreement within 15 working days or if the unit is not finished on time. You can authorise someone to give the notice on your behalf, as long as you give them written permission.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM220865.

This page was last updated on — View changes

Topics:
Housing and property > Buying and selling homesHousing and property > RentingMoney and consumer rights > Consumer protectionMoney and consumer rights > Savings and retirement
Previous

27: Occupation right agreements, or

"What you need to know about agreements to live in a retirement village"

Next

29: Deposits and other payments must be independently held, or

"Your retirement village deposit is safely held in a special account until you move in."

Part 2Registration, occupation right agreements, and related requirements and rules
Occupation right agreements

28Cooling-off period and cancellation for delay

  1. An occupation right agreement must contain a provision allowing a resident (other than a person who is a resident solely because paragraph (c) of the definition of resident applies to that person) to cancel the agreement,—

  2. without having to give any reason, by notice given not later than 15 working days after the agreement is signed by the resident; and
    1. if the agreement relates to a residential unit to be built or completed at a later date and the residential unit is not finished to the point of practical completion within 6 months after the proposed date for completion of the unit, by notice given at any time after the expiry of that 6-month period.

      1. Notice of cancellation—

      2. must be in writing and in a form that indicates (irrespective of the exact words used) the intention of the resident to cancel the agreement; and
        1. may be given by the resident or any person authorised in writing by the resident to act on his or her behalf.

          1. The notice may be given to—

          2. the operator; or
            1. the real estate agent or other person who dealt with the resident on behalf of the operator when the resident acquired an occupation right, unless the operator has notified the resident that the person has ceased to act on behalf of the operator; or
              1. any person who the operator has notified the resident is a person authorised to receive communications on behalf of the operator.

                1. The operator is entitled to reasonable compensation for services provided to the resident under the occupation right agreement and for damage to a residential unit or any facilities in the retirement village for which the resident is responsible before the cancellation takes effect.

                2. Despite subsection (1), an occupation right agreement may contain a cancellation provision of the kind referred to in subsection (1) that is more favourable to the resident than the provision referred to in subsection (1), but, if the agreement fails to contain any provision of the kind referred to in subsection (1) or contains a provision that is less favourable to the resident than that provision, the agreement is deemed to contain the provision referred to in subsection (1).