Harmonized Sales Tax HST will affect all new homebuyers. When getting pre-approved with your lender you should get a ‘Net-Sheet’ showing you all of your estimated costs. You will need to know this before you can tell your REALTOR® what your upper limit is for buying. Here is a link to a HST calculator if … Read more
The CBC have reported that the Homeowner Protection Office (HPO) is ignoring consumers’ complaints and allowing builders to continue with “business as usual”. Builder relicensed despite unfinished homes This is a reminder that there is little if any protection for homeowners in BC. For more than 25 years before the HPO was even in existence … Read more
Since there was no remaining meaningful consumer protection activities or responsibilities being conducted at the Homeowner Protection Office (HPO), it is no surprise to learn that the HPO is quietly closing its doors. HOMEOWNER PROTECTION ACT RESPONSIBILITIES TRANSFERRED The announcement last summer that the HPO interest-free loan program (designed to keep Leaky Condo owners in … Read more
Information savvy consumers have long expected a builder to provide specific maintenance and warranty details in a format that is easy to use and access. Besides, the warranty coverage itself will be dependent upon the homeowner being compliant and doing proper maintenance, which usually requires being able to refer to the manufacturer’s instructions, and regardless … Read more
Leaky Condo reconstruction costs have soared past $3 billion so far, and that doesn’t include the indirect societal costs borne by British Columbians that nobody is tracking. Since only about 20 percent of leaky condo owners met the government imposed “means test” of the Homeowner Protection Office loan program, the $670 million in HPO victim … Read more
Leaky condo assistance dries up, Liberals say program is obsolete The provincial government is scrapping a program that for the past decade has provided leaky-condo owners with interest-free loans to pay for repairs By Derrick Penner The Vancouver Sun – August 1, 2009 Housing and Development Minister Rich Coleman said the loan program has more … Read more
This is not the place to cut corners in construction When I read this today it reminded me of what became clear during the Barrett Commission hearings over a decade ago in British Columbia. The many engineering assessments being conducted on leaky condos were turning up dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of building code violations. At one … Read more
Times Colonist June 24, 2009 Condo victims deserve better The leaky condo debacle remains one of the greatest consumer ripoffs in Canadian history, costing British Columbians between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. Lives were devastated when people bought homes and found themselves facing huge repair costs. Now the provincial government, without warning, is halting an … Read more
Insurance companies not honouring new leaky condo warranties: owners Insurers say lack of maintenance by owners is source of some problems CBC – Monday, June 22, 2009 | 9:38 AM PT Thousands of B.C. condominum owners have had to live behind walls of plastic while their leaky buildings were repaired. (CBC) Some owners of recently … Read more
We recently learned of “The Future of Housing”, an upcoming conference being hosted in Metro Vancouver on May 8, 2009, by the Canadian Home Builders’ Association’s BC chapter. The conference will be bringing together a diverse group of builder and real estate insiders to focus on the issues facing the housing market today and into the … Read more