Northern Territory Consolidated Acts Northern Territory Consolidated Acts(1) A person must not, as landlord or on behalf of the landlord, seek or accept key-money in connection with the granting of consent to the assignment of a retail shop lease.
Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units.
(2) A provision of a retail shop lease is void to the extent that it requires or has the effect of requiring key-money in connection with the granting of consent to the assignment of the lease.
(3) If a person contravenes subsection (1) then, whether or not the person is found guilty of an offence against that subsection, the tenant is entitled to recover from the landlord as a debt:
(a) a payment made by; or
(b) the value of any benefit conferred by;
the tenant or assignee and accepted by or on behalf of the landlord in contravention of this section.
(4) This section does not prevent a landlord:
(a) requiring payment by the tenant or assignee of a reasonable sum for legal or other expenses incurred in connection with the assignment of the lease; or
(b) receiving payment of rent in advance; or
(c) securing performance of the assignee's obligations under the lease by requiring the provision of a bond, security deposit or a guarantee from the assignee or another person (such as a requirement that the directors of a company that is the assignee guarantee performance of the company's obligations under the lease); or
(d) seeking and accepting, from a purchaser of the business, payment for goodwill of a business, but only to the extent that the goodwill is attributable to the conduct of the business by the landlord; or
(e) seeking and accepting payment for plant, equipment, fixtures or fittings that are sold by the landlord to the tenant or assignee in connection with the granting of consent to the assignment of the lease; or
(f) seeking and accepting payment for the grant of a franchise in connection with the granting of consent to the assignment of the lease.