Was there an agreement between the parties permitting occupancy of site 129
- The critical issue for determination in this appeal is whether the Tribunal was correct in finding that approval had been given by the appellant to the respondents to occupy site 129 as their principal place of residence and that the appellant was obliged to enter into a residential tenancy agreement with the respondents under the RP Act.
- The correctness of this decision depends on whether the parties had entered into a binding agreement and, if so, on what terms.
- In our view, in order for the Tribunal to make orders under the RP Act, there must be a residential tenancy agreement which satisfies the requirements of s 5 (1) of the RP Act. Although a park owner must ensure that any agreement is in writing, an agreement that is not in writing is still enforceable and is not before it: see s 16A(2) of the RP Act which provides:
16A What if there is no written agreement?
. . .
(2) The fact that a residential tenancy agreement is not in writing does not by itself mean that the agreement is void or voidable.
- However, in the absence of an agreement, there is no jurisdiction given to the Tribunal to compel a park owner to enter into such an agreement with a person who is not a resident of the residential park.
- The following facts as recorded in the Decision are relevant to a determination of this appeal and are not the subject of challenge:
1. At the time of the hearing, the respondents were renting a unit at Tweed Heads: Decision at [7] and [13].
2. On 9 October 2014, the respondents purchased the relocatable home situated on site 129 price of $36,000.00. The contract for sale provided that it was subject to the respondents agreeing to the assignment by the vendors of a site agreement relating site 129: Decision at [9].
3. The vendor had a written occupation agreement pursuant to the HP Act: Decision at [9].
4. On 8 October 2014, the respondents applied to the appellant to occupy site 129. Item 5 of the application required the signing of an occupation agreement: Decision at [10].
5. On 9 October 2014, the appellant wrote to the respondents stating their application and offering the respondents an occupation agreement pursuant to the HP Act, which the respondents refused to sign: Decision at [11].
6. The respondents paid $356.00 "in anticipation of taking up occupation of the site", those monies being refunded: Decision at [12].
7. The respondents intended to vacate the Tweed Heads rented premises and occupied site 129 as their principal place of residence: Decision at [13] - [14].
- The Tribunal made further findings in connection with those facts which are appropriate to set out in detail:
17 The application form signed by the (respondents) provided for them to agree to sign an occupation agreement. The type of occupation agreement was not specified.
18 I find that the (respondents) are ready and willing to sign a site agreement pursuant to the Residential Parks Act but it seems that the (appellant) considers that it can determine the type of agreement which it can require a resident to sign. In my view the (appellant) cannot insist on the signing of a certain type of agreement if that agreement would be contrary to the occupation of the site and the relevant legislation.
……
20 If a resident is occupying a site as a permanent place of residence that resident has to be required to sign a site agreement. The Residential Parks Act, by s 9 provides for agreements to be in standard form.
21. The (respondents) cannot be asked to sign an agreement pursuant to the Holiday Parks (Long - Term Casual Occupation) Act because that agreement limits the occupation of the site to 180 days per annum and no more than 28 days consecutively. The (respondents) cannot agree to these restrictions if the home is their principal place of residence.
22. I find that the (appellant) gave approval to the residence to occupy site 129 subject to the signing of an occupation agreement. The (appellant) cannot operate contrary to the legislation. It must submit a Residential Parks Act agreement to the (respondents) for signature. Once that document is signed the (respondents) are entitled to immediate occupation of the site.
- These findings are somewhat ambiguous. On the one hand, the Tribunal appears to conclude there was no agreement. In this regard, the Tribunal appears to have accepted (at [17] - [21]) that the signing of the application form did not give rise to an enforceable agreement because:
1. The appellant required the respondents to sign an occupation agreement which was not specified.
2. The respondents were ready and willing to sign an agreement pursuant to the RP Act.
3. The appellant had only provided and was "insisting" on the signing of an occupation agreement which would not permit the respondents to occupy their site as their principal place of residence.
- On the other hand, the Tribunal determined the appellant gave approval to residents who occupy the site 129 subject to signing an occupation agreement and that the appellant was required to submit an agreement under the RP Act which, upon signing by the respondents, entitled them "to immediate occupation of the site."
- The Tribunal then determined at [23] that s 16 of the RP Act enabled the Tribunal to make both restraining orders and performance orders requiring the appellant to submit a standard form agreement under the RP Act for signature by the respondents.
- Section 16(6) provides as follows:
The Tribunal may, on application by a person under this section, make one or more of the following orders:
(a) an order that:
(i) restrains any action in breach of the residential tenancy agreement, or
(ii) requires an action in performance of the agreement,
- As s 16 makes clear, the power to make orders under s 16(6)(a)(ii) requires that there be an agreement of which performance can be ordered. It seems reasonably clear that the Tribunal was therefore satisfied that there was an agreement under the RP Act for which an order for performance could be made, although the terms of this agreement and whether it was partly oral, partly in writing and/or partly inferred are not made clear.
- Consequently, it is necessary for the Appeal Panel to determine whether or not there was an agreement between the parties, and if so, on what terms. In this regards offer and acceptance and an objective intention of the parties to form a binding agreement is relevant although a contract might also be inferred: see Integrated Computer Services per McHugh JA at [16]
- As indicated above, the respondents made reference to the dealings with the previous occupier of site 129, Ms Elliott, who was the vendor of the dwelling located on the site which was sold to the respondents on 9 October 2014. The respondents also made reference to the possession of an earlier occupier of the site, Mr Venn.
- In our view, these matters, and the contract for sale of the dwelling between the respondent and Ms Elliott, are irrelevant to a determination of this appeal. This is because while cl 7 of the contract for sale between the parties states that the contract was conditional upon assignment of Ms Elliott's occupation agreement to the respondents, neither party submitted to the Tribunal nor to the Appeal Panel that the appellant was requested to consent to such an assignment and/or that such a request was refused. This is hardly surprising, as the agreement which Ms Elliott had was an occupation agreement under the HP Act: see Decision at [9].
- Whether or not an agreement was entered into between the appellant and the respondents requires an analysis of what occurred on about 8 October 2014 and following, in particular, whether the completion of the application form of 8 October 2014, what occurred on 9 October 2014 and the payment of $356.00 gave rise to an enforceable agreement to which the provisions of the RP Act applied.
- The application, which is found in the appellants bundle at p 22, was in the following terms:
The [appellant] and its employees or workers has no involvement and makes no representations in the selling and purchasing of the dwelling, the sale is strictly between the purchaser and the vendors . . .
PRIOR to processing your application we require all of the following information to be supplied . . .
The lodging of this application does not constitute acceptance of the new owner being an occupant within the park. I understand and agree that should the application not be accepted, the [appellant] is not required or obligated to disclose why or supply any reasons for the rejection of this application.
I/We hereby undertake under no circumstances to occupy the site until all of the following documents and items have been completed and satisfactorily executed . . .
1. Finally completed and signed Application form Occupation of Site form
…
4. Payment of $15.00 for preparation of occupation agreement
5. Occupation Agreement signed by [respondents] and [appellant].
6. Letter from [the appellant] acknowledging that occupancy is accepted and approved.
In the event that I do occupy the site prior to the above being completed, I undertake to vacate the premises immediately on request of the [appellant].
I/We acknowledge that we have read and understand the contents of this document.
- This document was signed by the respondents and dated 8 October 2014.
- The next page of this document, p 2 of 7 (appellant's bundle page 23), states under the heading "Privacy Disclosure Statement":
If you do not complete this form or do not sign the consent below, then your application for occupation of the site may be rejected.
If the applicant enters into an occupation agreement and if the applicant fails to comply with their obligations under the agreement, that fact and any other relevant personal information collected about the applicant during the course of the occupancy may be disclosed to the landlord, third-party operators of the tenancy reference database and/or other agents.
- On 9 October 2014 the appellant sent to the respondents a letter acknowledging receipt of their application. That letter is found in the appellant's bundle p 21 and states:
We have received your application for occupancy in the Park and are in a position to offer you an agreement under the Holiday Parks (Long-term Casual Occupation) Act 2002.
It is important that you satisfy yourself that the registrable movable dwelling and associated structures comply with all the relevant regulations and that working smoke alarm(s) are to be installed in the dwelling as per the legislative requirements.
Please advise in writing the date you wish to commence occupancy of the site so that we can prepare an occupation agreement for signing by yourself prior to you commencing occupancy of the site.
- It is clear from the evidence of the respondent Mr Howarde in the transcript that this is the document which constituted the approval which the Tribunal found had been given to occupy the site and that there was no oral or other approval given: see transcript pp 6-8 in appellant's bundle at pp 33-35. It is also clear from this section of the transcript that an occupation agreement under the HP Act was the only form of agreement offered to the respondent: see Mr Howarde's last answer on p 6 of the transcript where he says "we were only offered that one agreement".
- There is no dispute that the form of agreement provided for signing to the respondents on 10 October 2014 was an occupation agreement under the HP Act. A copy of this document is found at appellant's bundle p 60 and following. There is also no dispute that the respondents refused to sign the agreement in consequence of which the appellant repaid to the respondent the sum of $356.00 under cover of letter dated 10 October 2014. The letter is appellant bundle p 19. That letter, having set out the terms of the application signed by the respondents dated 8 October 2014 continued:
As you have refused to sign the occupation agreement dated 9 October 2014 and the above undertaking by yourselves we require you to vacate the Park immediately and make arrangements to have the structures removed site 129 Friday, 17 October 2014. Under no circumstances are you to occupy the premises and Site 129.
- In our view, upon its proper construction, the application form dated 8 October 2014 which the respondents completed was not an offer capable of acceptance by the respondents signing and returning it to the appellant. Rather, it was an application by the respondents to enter into an occupancy agreement with the appellant which was conditional upon various matters including signing a document called "Occupation Agreement". Therefore, the signing of the application form by the respondents and its return to the appellant did not give rise to a legally binding contract. The provisions of the application form that support this conclusion include the following:
PRIOR to processing your application we require all of the following information to be supplied…
….
The lodging of this application does not constitute acceptance of the new owner being an occupant within the park. I understand and agree that should the application not be accepted, the park owner is not required or obligated to disclose why or supply any reasons for the rejection of this application.
I/We hereby undertake under no circumstances to occupy the site until all of the following documents and items have been completed and satisfactorily executed:
…
5. Occupation Agreement signed by the applicant and the park owner.
6. Letter from park owner acknowledging that occupancy is accepted and approved.
In the event that I do occupy the site prior to the above being completed, I undertake to vacate the premises immediately on request of the park owner.
- While the Tribunal concluded the application form did not specify the form of agreement to be offered, there is some doubt that this interpretation of the application is correct. The reason for this doubt is that agreements under the HP Act are called "occupation agreements" whereas agreements under the RP Act are called "residential tenancy agreements" or "residential site agreements". However, as we have concluded the submission of the application form did not give rise to a legally binding agreement, it is unnecessary to determine the terms of that agreement.
- Further, in the opinion of the Appeal Panel, what occurred on 9 October 2014, when the respondents were given the occupation agreement to sign, did not otherwise give rise to any legally binding agreement between the parties. To the contrary, the evidence makes clear that:
1. The only form of agreement offered by the appellant to the respondent in respect of site 129 was an Occupation Agreement under the HP Act which did not permit the occupation of the site as the respondents principal place of residence.
2. The respondents did not sign this agreement nor accept the terms.
3. Upon the respondents' refusal to sign the Occupation Agreement, the appellant refunded to the respondent the sum of $356.00.
- Finally, in the opinion of the Appeal Panel, none of the evidence to which it has been referred would constitute an approval by the appellant for the respondents to occupy the site as their principal place of residence, and the fact the respondents intended to occupy the site on this basis is irrelevant.
- The Tribunal appears to have had regard to the intention of the respondents to occupy the site as their principal place of residence as determinative of the issue. However, this misconceives the operation of the RP Act which first requires there be an agreement. It also fails to recognise that a person who is not a resident in a park has no right to demand a particular right of occupancy if they are entering into a new agreement to occupy a site in a park.
- While there is a right to assign a residential tenancy agreement to which the RP Act applies and the park owner may not unreasonably withhold or refuse consent: see s 41 of the RP Act, as we have stated above, this was not a case involving assignment. Further, and in any event, the agreement permitting the vendor (Ms Elliott) to occupy the site was not a residential tenancy agreement under the RP Act. Rather, it was a written occupation agreement under the HP Act: Decision at [9]
- It follows from the above that there was no agreement to permit the respondents to occupy site 129 and the Tribunal was in error in concluding that:
1. The appellant was obliged to enter into a residential tenancy agreement under the RP Act with the respondents.
2. The respondents were entitled to occupy the site as their principal place of residence.