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Whether building, buying, renting, moving to a retirement village, purchasing services or refinancing, you are likely to be entering into a legal contract between yourself and another party.
The following information is also available as part of the Seniors housing guide - Contracts and agreements fact sheet.
Some of these contracts may have terms that are agreed verbally. However, for the purchase and sale of real estate, retirement villages and park homes, by law contracts must be in writing. It is a good idea to always try and have any contract you enter into – for a good or service - in writing. Verbal contracts are very difficult to prove if things go wrong.
Contracts can be thought of as setting the rules between you and another party or parties. The contract rules (called terms or conditions) set out what each party will do for the other, the time by which such actions will be done and what happens if any party fails to play by the rules.
The contract should set out all the rules so there is no uncertainty. The law treats contracts seriously and you should be very careful before entering into a contract. If you sign a contract, you are agreeing to abide by the terms set out in the contract. This will be enforceable through the courts. A claim that you did not understand certain clauses in the contract will not usually release you from the responsibility to abide by the terms agreed to in them.
For many contracts the law in Western Australia does not require the contract to contain a cooling off period. If the contract does not include a cooling off period, you cannot get out of a contract because you have changed your mind.
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