A resident in one of the ‘big 6’ operator villages decided after 12 months that this village was not for her. She explained to the operator that she would be handing in her notice. She does not get her money back (like almost all other villages) until the unit is re-licenced to the next incoming resident, and they’ve paid and the 15 day cooling period has expired. There were already 8 other units for re-licence in this village. She must continue to pay a weekly fee for 6 months after she exits (or until someone else moves in). What she did not realise – is that the village continues to accrue the Deferred management fee until it’s relicenced. She paid nearly $500,000 for her apartment, so after 1 year 10% accrues ie. $50,000. If it takes 12-18 months for them to re-licence it – she will have given up another $50,000 – $75,000… and under the 2008 Code of Practice she is not allowed to complain about any sales process until after 9 months! All the while she still continues to pay the monthly fee of $844.

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