Given developments over the last few days, I thought it would be worth doing a single post on the validity of the third floor determination. The relevant dates are as follows: 15 April 2003 – the RLA 2003 received Royal assent; 29 April 2003 – date of third floor determination; 30 April 2003 – Gazette […]

Geoff Browne has been appointed as the next Small Business Commissioner. I have been told that Mr Browne was formerly a Deputy Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria and that his appointment was effective yesterday. Peter Lisle has been Acting Small Business Commissioner for about the last 18 months.  Mr Lisle did an excellent job as […]

My friend Robert Hay just added a post to his blog on a new decision in which VCAT held that a landlord repudiated the lease by failing to comply with its repair and maintenance obligations under s 52 of the RLA. Read Robert’s post here. VCAT’s decision is available here. Acceptance of the landlord’s repudiation […]

Here is a link to an article reporting that the WA Parliament is debating the introduction of mandatory disclosure requirements to prospective retail tenants. The article suggests that landlords in WA require tenants to disclose their turnover figures and that landlords may be obliged under the proposed legislation to disclose rents (presumably for comparable premises) […]

In the past week or so a debate has been brewing between shopping centre retailers and landlords, fuelled by comments made in the media by Mark McInnes and Solomon Lew of Premier Investments. McInnes is employing a strategy of closing stores to reduce losses in his ‘ongoing cost-reduction program’.   In some cases where Premier Investments […]

Greens List (my clerk) has just launched a new website with resources that followers of this blog might be interested in. Michael Green had this to say about the new site: Especially valuable to solicitors is the library with over 90 papers in it, many of which can have been filmed and can be viewed. There is […]

Solicitors with clients who possess old laneways should consider lodging caveats to protect their clients’ possessory title and making an adverse possession application to the Registrar or Titles as soon as possible. Under s 7B of the Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic): 7B            No title by adverse possession against Councils  (1) Despite any rule […]

Many retail operators occupy their shops under a franchise agreement and outlet licence granted to them by the franchisor who holds a head lease of the property.   As it is usually associated with terminated leases, relief from forfeiture is often overlooked by both franchisors and franchisees when a franchise agreement and outlet licence are terminated. […]

Robert Hay has just put an interesting post on his blog about a change to the legislation regarding goods left on the premises after termination of a lease – see here. The potential problem with the statute that Robert has identified emphasises that it is prudent for landlords to ensure that leases contains a clause […]

Section 23 of the RLA prohibits the landlord from seeking or accepting payment of key-money.  It is a penalty provision. “Key-money” is defined in s. 3 of the RLA as: money that a tenant is to pay, or a benefit that a tenant is to give, that is- (a)            by way of a premium, or something […]