Fighting with Developer to Fix Deficiencies

[Squishee]

Hi everyone,

I hope that the collective experience of this forum can offer us some advice.

We recently submitted our 30 Day form, of which we had only listed 7 items, and were denied 3 due to the builder labeling them "non-warrantable." These items were not initially listed in our PDI as they were missed. We are new home buyers and we were inexperienced and hindsight is 20/20.

The items denied were large scratches in the floor in the kitchen (I believe they occurred when appliances were installed), a chip in the wood across a bathroom threshold (I believe a crack already existed and then it splintered off), and a chip in the inside edge of a kitchen cabinet door.

We want to pursue the matter further with the developer as we were not at fault for these. But it seems we are in for a fight. Does anyone have any experience with this? Do you think we are out of luck? Also, can the developer take any action against us if we talk about them specifically in public forums?

Thanks in advance.

 

[simuls]

All of those sound like completely warrantable items, so the developer is full of it. Things happen between a pdi and occupancy - hence the 30 day form. Keep at the developers and contact Tarion if you have any problem. As long as you don't libel someone (write something that is a lie that will hurt their reputation) and only speak the truth about facts, then there is nothing wrong, illegal, or sueable about talking about them. Libel must be taken to the Supreme Court of Ontario to be tried and this is very very expensive, so it's almost unheard of for a developer to do that. Plus, with the anonymity of the net, you shouldn't be worried.

 

[luxome]

just keep buggin them nicely and you'll eventually get it. go to different people/employee.

 

[cdr108]

start a facebook page for your condo and i'm sure you'll get all residents sign up with all the horror stories ... that's your leverage.

keep it factual !

 

[Squishee]

Thanks everyone. By nature I'm not much a fighter or complainer so the thought of having to go after the developer to end up with nothing has been stressful these last few days. But these lingering items and the developers refusal have really marred our enjoyment of our new place.

We will check with Tarion what our options are and probably begin drafting more letters.

Hopefully we'll be able to post back with better news.

 

[Mike in TO]

Unfortunately your options may be limited unless the scrateches were noted on the PDI form. If it's on the 30 day form there is no proof that the scratches weren't made by you or one of your movers or by furnature coming in - in which case it obviously shouldn't be the responsibility of the developer. So in terms of tarion or legal action you likely don't have a case should the issue go to conciliation. This is why the PDI is so important to note any kinds of surface scratches since after 30 days it will be assumed that the scratches came from wear and tear especially when moving large items during the move in.

My advice - pursue the matter with Tarion - even if you don't have a case the developer may be fixing a few other floors anyway so it's easy to just add your unit to the list. Secondly as previously mentioned try talking to someone else within the company to see if they can resolve your issue.