Status: The Consumer Protection (Life Leases) Amendment Act, 2024, received Royal Assent on May 16, 2024
Ministry responsible: Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction
Overview
The Consumer Protection (Life Leases) Amendment Act, 2024, (formerly Bill 12) takes a balanced approach to improve consumer protection and help ensure life leases remain a reliable housing option for seniors.
The Act addresses gaps and provides clear and consistent criteria for life lease contracts. The changes establish firm payout timelines, a cooling-off period, enforcement for non-compliance, and will allow flexibility to increase consumer protections as the life lease market evolves.
The Consumer Protection (Life Leases) Amendment Act was informed by input from leaseholders, families, operators and other groups.
A life lease is a contract where residents occupy a unit for life, or until they choose to leave, in exchange for an initial upfront fee, often referred to as an entrance fee, followed by monthly payments to cover ongoing fees and operating expenses.
Key changes
The Consumer Protection (Life Leases) Amendment Act, 2024:
- sets out minimum requirements for what life lease contracts must contain
- mandates the return of entrance fees to be within 180 days of termination of the lease
- establishes the ability to create interest penalties for entrance fees not repaid within the required 180 days
- mandates a 10-day cooling-off period after contracts are signed
- sets out broad regulation making authority to further regulate the life lease industry, should additional rules become necessary. Includes the authority to:
- establish security requirements for the life lease industry, should it wish to do so in the future
- create interest penalties for entrance fees not repaid within the required 180 days
- establishes that non-compliance with these new requirements will be deemed offences and will be subject to enforcement under the Consumer Protection Act’s existing framework
Resources
The Consumer Protection Act prohibits unfair or misleading practices when entering a consumer transaction. These protections apply to life lease arrangements. Learn more about consumer protection in Alberta.
News
- Protecting Albertans in life leases (March 18, 2024)