Toronto, ON, August 8, 2006 – On June 14, 2006, John Edward Jonkman of Gananoque, Ontario pleaded guilty to charges of failing to enrol a new home in Ontario’s mandatory warranty program and selling a new home without being a registered vendor as required under provincial law. The total fine for both charges was $5,600.
Under the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act (“the Act”) every builder or vendor of a new home sold in the Province of Ontario must be registered with Tarion, which protects the rights of new home buyers by regulating the home building industry, and administering and guaranteeing the province’s new home warranty program. Home builders are also required to enrol every new home with Tarion prior to its construction.
“If you build a home for personal use, you are not required to register as a builder with Tarion or enrol the home. In this case, Mr. Jonkman had signed a permit declaring that the house he was building was for his personal use but records show that he never occupied the home before selling it,” said David Roberts, Director of Enforcement at Tarion.. “When the sale of this home was discovered, we gave Mr. Jonkman the opportunity to comply with the required legislation but he failed to do so and so he is paying the consequences.”
Illegal building in the residential construction industry is a serious problem in Ontario and the provincial courts are responding with heavy fines and even jail time. Tarion employs a team of former police officers who work with building and municipal officials to uncover illegal building in Ontario. In 2005, Tarion’s Enforcement Department laid 243 charges against illegal builders and as a result, a total of $816,516 in related fines were levied by the courts.
If you suspect that illegal building is taking place in your community, you can anonymously report this information by calling Tarion toll-free at 1-800-786-6497 or by sending an email to enforcement@tarion.com. In addition, consumers are encouraged to visit the “Find a Builder” section of Tarion’s website to confirm that a builder is registered and to obtain additional information about the builder’s after-sales service performance.
About Tarion
Tarion Warranty Corporation is a private corporation established in 1976 to serve as the Regulator of the new home building industry in Ontario. In this role, Tarion licenses all new home and condominium builders pursuant to provincial legislation. This statute requires new home builders to provide purchasers with warranty coverage that is guaranteed by Tarion. The Corporation also establishes minimum time standards for after-sales service, and adjudicates issues between homeowners and builders. Over 1.45 million homes in Ontario have been protected under warranty by Tarion.
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For more information, please contact: Janice Wong, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, Corporate Affairs at 416-229-3863 or janice.wong@tarion.com
