Nine months after the province pledged to crack down on developers for cancelling housing build contracts or demanding more money from buyers, Ontario’s Home Construction Regulatory Authority has yet to levy any fines for these controversial practices, CBC News has learned.
Some buyers who years ago purchased builds in a housing development north of Toronto are calling for government intervention after they were told they would need to fork over $175,000 above what was agreed upon in contracts before their homes will finally be built.
Dozens of buyers at a development in the west Ottawa suburb of Stittsville say they not only won't get the condo they purchased, but they've also lost out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity, after the builder entered then emerged from bankruptcy proceedings.
After a Mississauga, Ont., development project went sideways, the builder sold the land. But buyers say they were never told about the sale or the fate of the project. Instead, they received letters stating they were in violation of their sales agreements and the company is keeping their deposits unless they agree not to take legal action.
Nearly 30 townhouse buyers in two Ideal Developments projects in Richmond Hill, Ont., are likely to lose a total of $2.8 million in unprotected deposit funds after the builder was refused licences by an Ontario oversight body and the projects were cancelled.