I am a tenant under a retail lease and have a dispute with my landlord. What are my options?
The first step should always be to approach the landlord or the managing agent and discuss the issues and seek to resolve the dispute informally. It is always a good idea to keep written records of the terms of any resolution in case of disagreement at some later time. If the dispute cannot be resolved informally most leases have provisions relating to alternate dispute resolution and subject to legal advice you should follow the dispute resolution procedure in the lease.
The Act also provides a dispute resolution process for retail lease disputes and an application can be made to Administrative Decisions Tribunal in NSW under Section 71 of the Act to seek the assistance of that tribunal to resolve disputes. You should seek legal advice before making such an application.
I am a landlord under a retail lease and have a dispute with my tenant. What are my options?
A landlord under a retail lease should follow the same steps as the advice for a tenant in the previous answer. A landlord can make an application to the Administrative Decisions Tribunal in the same way as a tenant can.
What about lease disputes under non retail commercial leases?
The Administrative Decisions Tribunal does not have jurisdiction to assist the parties with resolving a dispute. The parties should seek to resolve the dispute informally and if they are unable to do so should look at the alternative dispute resolution provisions in the lease. Both a landlord and a tenant can commence proceedings in the Local, District or Supreme Court of NSW to seek to have the dispute resolved. Legal Advice should be obtained at an early stage in a lease dispute and certainly proceedings should not commenced in any court without advice having been received as to which is the appropriate court.
