Retirement Housing Stories

Overcoming bullies in Retirement Villages

Mary* is a HAAG member living in a retirement village in the west of Melbourne. She’s lived there since 2018, and enjoyed a couple of good years there before a new manager named Dean* started there in late 2019. Mary soon noticed tensions developing between her and Dean, but within a year these had erupted into outright harassment and bullying by the manager.

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24 months in a leaky house!

Sally is a woman in her 70’s living in a retirement village in Victoria’s North. Sally contacted HAAG’s Retirement Housing Advice Service (RHAS) in late 2021 after 18 months of attempting to resolve an issue with her leaking roof by herself. Sally originally reported to management her roof was leaking in 2020 after she noticed that her ceiling was damp, and water stained.

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A light shining brightly in this dark modern world

Trevor was referred to our service by the local crisis homelessness service Beyond Housing in December, after he had received an eviction notice due to the landlord wanting to sell. He had until 26 February to find housing, and wanted to move closer to his support networks and medical services in the Yarra Ranges.

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Infested with Pests

 
Jennie was referred to our Retirement Housing Advice Service, as she had had huge crowds of ants crawling into her unit for almost 12 months and the village where she lived had consistently been unresponsive to this pest infestation.

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Out with the old, in with the new regulations

Cat’s family approached us some time ago, after she had moved to an aged care facility from a retirement village. Cat had moved to the retirement village in 2005, prior to the current regulations coming into force.

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Having a rough run

Sue presented to our service with various different problems. She had a medical issue which was causing her to be in financial distress. Her car had recently been stolen and burnt and was also fighting with her insurance company to pay her out the cost of her car.

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Courts out on COVID evictions

Sarah (not her real name) is in her early 60s and resides in a small retirement village. Sarah fell into arrears and received a notice terminating (or purporting to terminate) her residency right as of last week.

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Maryanne's Deferred Management Fee Nightmare

Maryanne (not her real name) lived happily in a retirement village for over ten years. She was in her mid 80s when construction work in a common area above her unit disrupted a drain above her library, causing serious flooding during heavy rain.

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Jimmy's Caravan

Jimmy is in his 80’s. He lived in a rundown caravan park for 30 years in a freezing/boiling caravan, traipsing to the communal toilet every night, until finally being forced out when the park was being 'upgraded' to 'boutique living'.

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Out of Order

Mr and Mrs Armstrong* live in a for-profit retirement residential park (aka ‘lifestyle’ village) located in a rural area outside of Melbourne. Mr Armstrong called up for assistance in requesting that village management complete repairs to their property.

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