South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts62A—Landlord to provide a statement of operating expenses
(1) Where a tenant is
or is to be required to pay any amount in respect of operating expenses, the
landlord must give to the tenant a written statement setting out—
(a) the
nature of those expenses; and
(b)
estimates of the amount of the tenant's liability in respect of each separate
category of those expenses over each accounting period.
Penalty: Division 9 fine.
(2) The estimates
referred to in subsection (1) must be given—
(a) in
relation to a commercial tenancy agreement entered into before the
commencement of this section—within one month of the commencement of the
first accounting period and thereafter at least one month before the
commencement of each successive accounting period; or
(b) in
relation to a commercial tenancy agreement entered into on or after the
commencement of this section—before it is entered into and thereafter at
least one month before the commencement of each successive accounting period.
(3) A landlord must,
within three months of the expiration of an accounting period, give the tenant
a written statement, certified by the landlord or his or her agent to be
correct, setting out, under each separate category of operating expenses, the
amount actually incurred by the landlord, and the amount payable by the
tenant, for that period.
Penalty: Division 9 fine.
(4) Notwithstanding
the provisions of a commercial tenancy agreement, a landlord is not at any
particular time entitled to payment from the tenant on account of operating
expenses in a particular accounting period of an amount in excess of—
(a) an
amount calculated in accordance with the following formula:
where—
"a" is the amount
"e" is the landlord's estimate of aggregate operating expenses for the
accounting period
"x" is the number of complete months to have elapsed since the commencement of
the accounting period
"y" is the number of complete months in the accounting period; or
(b) the
amount of the reimbursement or contribution to which the landlord is entitled
in respect of operating expenses that have fallen due for payment or for which
an account has been rendered to the landlord.
(5) Where a landlord
receives from a tenant in respect of operating expenses for an
accounting period an amount in excess of the expenses actually incurred for
that period, the landlord must, within three months of the expiration of the
period—
(a)
refund the excess to the tenant; or
(b) with
the consent of the tenant—credit the excess against future liabilities
of the tenant in relation to operating expenses.
Penalty: Division 9 fine.
(6) A statement may be
given to a tenant under this section—
(a)
personally; or
(b) by
leaving the statement at the business premises of the tenant with a person
apparently employed by the tenant; or
(c) by
posting the statement to the tenant at his or her business addresses or last
known residential address.
(7) This section does
not prevent a landlord from recovering any amount payable by the tenant in
respect of operating expenses once the tenancy has come to an end.
(8) In this
section—
"accounting period" means—
(a) in
relation to a commercial tenancy agreement entered into before the
commencement of this section—
(i)
a period commencing on 1 January, 1988, and not exceeding
18 months, determined by the landlord as the first accounting period or,
in the absence of such a determination, the period commencing on
1 January, 1988, and ending on 30 June, 1988; and
(ii)
each successive period of 12 months; and
(b) in
relation to a commercial tenancy agreement entered into on or after the
commencement of this section—
(i)
a period running from the commencement of the tenancy and
not exceeding 18 months, determined by the landlord as the first
accounting period or, in the absence of such a determination, the period from
the commencement of the tenancy to the following 30 June; and
(ii)
each successive period of 12 months.