HI,
I am trying to find out how to challenge an interpretation by the Landlord, of a Settlement Agreement regarding rent rises in a Residential Land Lease Community. The Agreement was set down by the Strata Mediation, Customer Services of NSW Department of Fair Trading. This Agreement, signed by the then Owners of the Community in 2018, states that there are maintenance items which needed to be attended to prior to any increase in rent, over a 3 year period, and that the maintenance item for the year of 2019 is that security fencing be installed to the perimeter of the Community land. This item was not completed in 2019, and is still not complete, and no rent rise was claimed in the 2019 period, but now that we are in the 2020 period, with no specific maintenance items listed to be completed in this year, the Owners are claiming a rent increase due to the fact that there are no specified items listed in the Agreement for the 2020 year to be completed prior to a site fee increase, although the maintenance item listed for completion in the 2019 year has still not been completed. Their interpretation of a clause in the Settlement Agreement, which states: "Each year's site fee increase will be contingent on the agreed maintenance being completed prior to the increase" is that because there was no maintenance item stipulated for the 2020 year's site fee increase, they do not need to complete the previous year's maintenance item in order to claim a site fee increase in the year of 2020, which they have now done. How do I challenge this interpretation of the Agreement's wording, as residents here do not believe that we should be charged the site fee increase until the previous year's maintenance item has been completed?
I am trying to find out how to challenge an interpretation by the Landlord, of a Settlement Agreement regarding rent rises in a Residential Land Lease Community. The Agreement was set down by the Strata Mediation, Customer Services of NSW Department of Fair Trading. This Agreement, signed by the then Owners of the Community in 2018, states that there are maintenance items which needed to be attended to prior to any increase in rent, over a 3 year period, and that the maintenance item for the year of 2019 is that security fencing be installed to the perimeter of the Community land. This item was not completed in 2019, and is still not complete, and no rent rise was claimed in the 2019 period, but now that we are in the 2020 period, with no specific maintenance items listed to be completed in this year, the Owners are claiming a rent increase due to the fact that there are no specified items listed in the Agreement for the 2020 year to be completed prior to a site fee increase, although the maintenance item listed for completion in the 2019 year has still not been completed. Their interpretation of a clause in the Settlement Agreement, which states: "Each year's site fee increase will be contingent on the agreed maintenance being completed prior to the increase" is that because there was no maintenance item stipulated for the 2020 year's site fee increase, they do not need to complete the previous year's maintenance item in order to claim a site fee increase in the year of 2020, which they have now done. How do I challenge this interpretation of the Agreement's wording, as residents here do not believe that we should be charged the site fee increase until the previous year's maintenance item has been completed?