Felino
Banned
It's well known that condo developers have way too much power and leeway when it comes to the purchase of your condo unit.
I won't get into details, but the bottom line for me: I will never buy a new condo again.
The builder of my building put in very small print in the contract in lawyer jargon that basically they can change whatever they want.
Basically, they leased the entire mechanical infrastructure of the building and now the unit holders are responsible for paying the monthly cost of the lease and will be on the hook to buy it outright once the lease is up. This is a fairly new tactic that builders are using for new condominiums!!! Buyers beware!!! Find out before you put your hard earned money down!! The building's property manager (very reputable) said they spoke to the builder about this and they said it's more cost effective in the long-term to lease the mechanics of the building. This is laughable, more cost effective for whom? For them, that's who!
I don't care if they are legally allowed to do this or not, bottom line: purchasers should know this up front.
So this is a new tactic that builders are using nowadays to pass the buck to consumers in a very sneaky way. Buyer beware once again.
Also, our developer cheated hundreds of people in our building on their property tax assessments, and the city is putting us on the hook to deal with them directly.
Basically, I paid my property taxes up to the day I closed (during the phantom months). The builder inturn is responsible for taking that money and paying the city. Thing is, the builder underpaid so now the city is coming after the unit holders since the developer is no longer officially on the hook for anything to do with the building. We told the city that we paid the taxes for 2007 already once we "closed" with the builder and officially took ownership. The city says: "yes, the builder was responsible to pay them with the property tax portion of the closing costs but since they didn't we're on the hook, take it up with the developer to get back the money!! In fact, the lady from the city was so eloquent: "that's not our problem, you owe this money and it has to be paid! Just pay it!" I'm not kidding, she actually said this.
So I overpaid my property taxes for fear of what would happen and now the developer is pretty much ignoring everyone's calls and emails and is dealing with unit holders one-by-one taking their damn ass time.
So again, the 2001 Act falls very short of protecting consumers when it comes to purchasing condominiums. It's well known that the builders have WAYYYYYYYY too much power and something needs to be done to protect consumers.
I don't want to hear: 'read the fine print'. I paid big for a good lawyer when I first bought and he's telling me that the wording in the contract is so vague as it is with most contracts that builders can pretty much get away with murder. My builder was a very well known builder and is building some massive projects in the city as we speak.
Our board is telling us that everyone is in a different situation so we all have to deal with the builder individually on this matter. Thing is, dozens of people are in the same situation in our building, some don't even know they overpaid and the developer is counting on this (in my opinion).
They are not one of the larger builders (not Tridel for example). I've dealt with Tridel years ago, they are fantastic and reputable. This company is not. So my guess is that they use whatever tactics they have to get money upfront so they can use on their next project or pay their debts.
Shame on the city of Toronto for not protecting consumers.
I won't get into details, but the bottom line for me: I will never buy a new condo again.
The builder of my building put in very small print in the contract in lawyer jargon that basically they can change whatever they want.
Basically, they leased the entire mechanical infrastructure of the building and now the unit holders are responsible for paying the monthly cost of the lease and will be on the hook to buy it outright once the lease is up. This is a fairly new tactic that builders are using for new condominiums!!! Buyers beware!!! Find out before you put your hard earned money down!! The building's property manager (very reputable) said they spoke to the builder about this and they said it's more cost effective in the long-term to lease the mechanics of the building. This is laughable, more cost effective for whom? For them, that's who!
I don't care if they are legally allowed to do this or not, bottom line: purchasers should know this up front.
So this is a new tactic that builders are using nowadays to pass the buck to consumers in a very sneaky way. Buyer beware once again.
Also, our developer cheated hundreds of people in our building on their property tax assessments, and the city is putting us on the hook to deal with them directly.
Basically, I paid my property taxes up to the day I closed (during the phantom months). The builder inturn is responsible for taking that money and paying the city. Thing is, the builder underpaid so now the city is coming after the unit holders since the developer is no longer officially on the hook for anything to do with the building. We told the city that we paid the taxes for 2007 already once we "closed" with the builder and officially took ownership. The city says: "yes, the builder was responsible to pay them with the property tax portion of the closing costs but since they didn't we're on the hook, take it up with the developer to get back the money!! In fact, the lady from the city was so eloquent: "that's not our problem, you owe this money and it has to be paid! Just pay it!" I'm not kidding, she actually said this.
So I overpaid my property taxes for fear of what would happen and now the developer is pretty much ignoring everyone's calls and emails and is dealing with unit holders one-by-one taking their damn ass time.
So again, the 2001 Act falls very short of protecting consumers when it comes to purchasing condominiums. It's well known that the builders have WAYYYYYYYY too much power and something needs to be done to protect consumers.
I don't want to hear: 'read the fine print'. I paid big for a good lawyer when I first bought and he's telling me that the wording in the contract is so vague as it is with most contracts that builders can pretty much get away with murder. My builder was a very well known builder and is building some massive projects in the city as we speak.
Our board is telling us that everyone is in a different situation so we all have to deal with the builder individually on this matter. Thing is, dozens of people are in the same situation in our building, some don't even know they overpaid and the developer is counting on this (in my opinion).
They are not one of the larger builders (not Tridel for example). I've dealt with Tridel years ago, they are fantastic and reputable. This company is not. So my guess is that they use whatever tactics they have to get money upfront so they can use on their next project or pay their debts.
Shame on the city of Toronto for not protecting consumers.
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