It is now official that the planned 28 storey Brio building won't be offering, or blocking, any views soon.
In their pre-sale glitz and glamour marketing, the Matsqui Group of Companies claimed to have "earned a sterling reputation in the building and development industry".
If this is in fact true it would suggest that doing research into the reputation of a builder is impossible and worse, can be misleading.
Last October it was reported in the Abbotsford-Mission Times that $35 million in real estate was announced as sold in one day on October 13, 2007. How is this possible? This hype seems to differ from this: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/03/06/bc-briostalled.html, but begs, how many buyers actually read the legal jargon in the thick disclosure statement (during the buying frenzy with red dots being put up by the minute for all to see in the sales office)?
Of course no buyers read it, which likely means that none of them even knew the termination clause existed either.
In BC, part 2 of the Real Estate Development Marketing Act (REDMA), Sec. 15. Providing disclosure statements to purchasers, reads:
- (1) A developer must not enter into a purchase agreement with a purchaser for the sale or lease of a development unit unless
(a ) a copy of the disclosure statement prepared in respect of the development property in which the development unit is located has been provided to the purchaser,
(b ) the purchaser has been afforded reasonable opportunity to read the disclosure statement, and
(c ) the developer has obtained a written statement from the purchaser acknowledging that the purchaser had an opportunity to read the disclosure statement.
A Buyer must have been afforded a reasonable opportunity to read the disclosure statement before entering into a purchase agreement. The part of the Act pertaining to the seven days right of rescission is for after a purchase agreement has been entered into.
Of course, clause (c) is the loophole (waiver) used. So the obvious question, what is a reasonable opportunity? I'd really like to see this challenged in Court by a purchaser questioning the contract validity.
Well the only solution, other than enforcing REDMA, seems to be a reservation system that allows the potential buyer to reserve a property, say for a week, to have the disclosure and contract checked out with their lawyer, and before signing a contract (or waiver).
In a previous post I wrote, "With so many multifamily developments failing, ‘weasel word' warranties, and the legalized ‘bait & switch' tactics, the general business acumen and morality of builders and the home building industry leaves the consumer with an overall lack of confidence."
Unfortunately they continue to prove it. Let the buyer beware prevails...
John in Port Moody, BC
Real Estate Evolved
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