Cobourg, ON, December 19, 2007 – On November 28, 2007, Cobourg Provincial Court fined Town & Country General Contracting and its director, Richard Swain, $50,000 for illegally constructing and failing to enrol a new home, located on Sunset Drive in Hamilton Township, with Tarion Warranty Corporation as mandated by the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act.
“One of the most important steps a new home buyer can take is to ensure his or her builder is registered to legitimately build homes in Ontario. Builders who do not enrol homes in our program usually do not tell buyers that they are even entitled to a new home warranty, which completely undermines the trust built in the residential construction industry – and often leave buyers with unfinished or poorly-constructed homes,” says David Roberts, Director of Enforcement at Tarion. “By the time this home buyer found out that Mr. Swain was building their dream home illegally, the roofing company that Mr. Swain neglected to pay had put a lien on the structure. Mr. Swain’s disregard for his clients, and the industry, is unacceptable.”
As administrator of the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act, Tarion protects the rights of new home buyers by regulating the home building industry and guaranteeing the province’s new home warranty program. Every builder or vendor of a new home sold in Ontario must register with Tarion in order to build homes, and must enrol every new home with Tarion before construction begins.
“Tarion takes illegal building seriously and our enforcement team of former police officers works with building and municipal officials to ensure that builders who break the law are investigated and brought to justice,” says Roberts. “Last year, Tarion’s Enforcement Department laid 364 charges resulting in a total of $674,320 fines levied.”
If you suspect that illegal building is taking place in your community, anonymously report it by calling Tarion, toll-free at 1-800-786-6497, or by sending an email to enforcement@tarion.com. New home buyers are also encouraged to visit the “Find a Builder” section of Tarion’s website to confirm that their builder is registered to legally build in Ontario and to obtain information from other customers about the builder’s after-sales service.
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: Corinne Smirle, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications.
Phone: (416) 229-3863 E-mail: corinne.smirle@tarion.com
