Arrival of HST to add to leaky condo woes - by Wanda Chow - Burnaby NewsLeader - Published: May 19, 2010
Letter to the Editor,
What a crock…
1. A provincial government spokesman said: “…the loan program delivered far more money than originally expected”
This is because the government was completely inept at understanding the extent of the on-going multi-billion dollar leaky condo disaster, and through the government appointed board of the HPO, the portfolio has been completely mismanaged.
2. A provincial government spokesman said: “…the government more than met its commitment to help homeowners with the cost of repairs to leaky condos”
The only commitment made by the province to help owners was made by the NDP; the Liberals in opposition screamed about the inadequacies of the interest-free loans and PST relief, and have since dismantled everything the NDP put in place, inadequacies and all.
3. “The Homeowner Protection Office also intends to carefully vet last-minute relief grant applications to make sure repairs aren’t being pre-paid ahead of completion.”
This is laughable! The HPO clearly turned a blind-eye to the continued and shoddy workmanship of builders being out-of-control, as reported in their own surveys.
These results proved that HPO enforcement staff was either impotent or incompetent, or perhaps both. Now the HPO is going to enforce against desperate homeowners. Over the decade of their existence, the HPO spent taxpayer’s money on, conferences, enforcement, event sponsorship, publications, seminars, videos, etc., for little or no improvements.
The only responsibility this office ever had which could be considered quasi-homeowner protection was the 2-5-10 warranty insurance program, which is a seriously flawed system because the decades old standards are way to loose in favour of the builders, and the expense and aggravation way to burdensome for the consumer.
Back when Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation inspected homes and held back money until the homes were habitable, builders were liable.
Since CMHC divested that responsibility in the late eighties, the protection of homeowners and buyers has become diluted to the point of ridiculous. Today's home warranty programs, with very limited liability, have basically legitimized the shoddy workmanship of today's builders who are stuck in an industry time warp.
Protection can hardly be found in warranty; Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware) prevails.
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