Be aware of your minimal rights with Evergreen Lifestyle Retirement Villages.

I moved into Evergreen Noordhoek during mid Feb 2022 and moved out during mid June 2022 due to personal circumstances having changed. Although the Evergreen Group marketing blurb stresses Partners for Life, this is not true. It is a money making business that makes pensioners, in particular, pay heavily for little in return. I had to get approval to make an improvement to the nonexistent garden. My home was resold by Evergreen with a massive increase in the sale price after the 4 months I lived there. I believe that was due to the moneys I spent improving Evergreen`s property. In terms of the life rights agreement , I know I cannot claim the improvements I made to Evergreen`s property. In the four months I occupied the home, I did not make any changes to the building and I did not hang any pictures on the walls because I was aware of Evergreen`s refurbishment policy on future exiting the village. When I left the home after four months, in the same condition I took occupation, I got a refurbishment account from Evergreen for close to R20000. R10000 was retained by Evergreen from monies owed to me, for the said alleged refurbishment. Things are alleged to have been done, which was totally unnecessary, if done. The house was still new. Oiling runners of kitchen drawers, door hinges, repainting walls, repainting a wall where their plumber had to dig a hole to fix a leaking pipe, among other things was charged, to make up over the said R10000. The only thing they had to do was clean the bedroom carpets because the quality they put in was so poor that even barefoot prints were left on the carpets. I strongly advise anybody looking at an Evergreen life right, to take special notice of the onesided agreement in favour of Evergreen, and don't let your excitement to moving into an Evergreen village cloud your decision. I did let that happen to me. I lost a lot of money. In terms of the life rights agreement, I was refunded the purchase price I paid for the rights, less 5% of the new resale price, less refurbishment costs. Evergreen arbitrarily does the refurbishment. I am extremely disappointed and disgusted.