ABC News:

A woman whose parents are in the Village Life retirement complex at Wagga Wagga in New South Wales says the eviction notice hanging over their heads is heartless.

Nationally, more than 400 Village Life residents face eviction, however those in Wodonga in Victoria and Griffith in New South Wales are unaffected.

There are fears that a clause in the contract would mean the residents are not covered under the Retirement Village Act and could be forced to leave their homes after the new property owners, investment company MFS, gave Village Life notice to vacate.

Around 170 people living in the NSW villages - 70 in Dubbo and Bathurst, 50 in Tamworth and 50 in Wagga Wagga - have received letters telling them that they must move out by May 28.

Denise Ferguson, whose parents are in the Wagga Wagga facility, says none of the residents have a lease agreement with Village Life.

Last night Ms Ferguson told the ABC she thinks all the residents, including her father, will be anxious about their future.

"He probably won't sleep tonight, I know he won't and Mum starts to talk a lot when she's nervous. I mean, I think the whole complex must be beside themselves," she said.

Some residents may remain ignorant of the change, with a Village Life representative not due in Wagga to explain the situation until today.

Legal advice

Meanwhile, NSW Fair Trading Minister Linda Burney says the Government is seeking legal advice on ways to safeguard the residents.

"The Office of Fair Trading and I understand also the Department of Housing, are sending officers to three of those centres - are having meetings today [with] the operators Village Life," she said.

"We need to establish where their rights sit. They are tenants so there is a whole set of rights we want to make sure are protected through the various pieces of legislation in New South Wales."

She says she is closely monitoring the meetings with residents about the proposed closures.

Ms Burney says she has asked the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to explore all possible avenues to help resolve the matter and ensure residents' rights are protected.

State Member for Tamworth, Peter Draper says he has been told by the Minister that the 50 residents should be protected under State Government legislation.

Mr Draper says he hopes common sense will prevail and the rights of the residents will be considered in the final outcome.

"This is a disgraceful situation. We have a major company here which has got a substantial portfolio, large investments, but no consideration for the impacts on local elderly residents," he said.

"I'm calling on the organisation to sit down with the residents and work out some equitable resolution."

Talks scheduled

Central-west politicians say the NSW Commissioner for Fair Trading has agreed to broker talks today between the parties involved in the dispute in Dubbo and Bathurst.

Local Village Life management in Bathurst says it is offering help to relocate residents to its villages in Orange and Goulburn.

State MP Gerard Martin and federal MP Peter Andren met Bathurst residents yesterday and say they have secured a meeting with the Commissioner.

Mr Andren says the residents feel betrayed by the eviction plans.

"They're close to their loved ones, they want to stay there," he said.

"They should under ideal circumstances be allowed to stay there and maybe if MFS say they don't have a licence to operate the village perhaps one should be issued."

Mr Andren says he hopes the meeting with the Commissioner will result in residents being able to stay in their homes but at the very least they should be given time and help to relocate.

"They're frail aged, they feel betrayed, and I believe they have been by a system that seems to not have any plans for them beyond May 28, which is outrageous," he said.

The daughter of a resident who is among those facing eviction in Bathurst says the residents will be destitute if they cannot stay.

Cheryl Hunter, who is the coodinator of an action group made up of families of the Bathurst residents, says the evictions must be stopped.

"It really is hard to believe that anyone could do this to people - such as these delightful people here in Village Life Bathurst and the other nine properties as well around Australia," she said.

Call for national review

Chief executive officer of the Aged Care Association of Australia Rod Young says there needs to be a national approach to the laws governing retirement villages.

"At the moment the issue of security of tenure is quite different between Commonwealth funded nursing homes and retirement villages and in fact there are considerable differences between the rules regulating this between states when you're talking about retirement villages."

Mr Young is calling for a tightening of national laws.

"I guess it's the rules regarding how that gets handled, the period of time that should be given if people do have to be relocated from existing services and the sort of support that should be given to particularly old and frail persons you know finding new accommodation."