Verona, ON, November 30, 2007 –  Danny Joseph Mauro and Carol Anne Querengesser were fined a total of $12,495 on October 25, 2007 by the Provincial Court for illegal building activities related to a new home they constructed and sold on Revell Road in Verona, South Frontenac Township.  The two, who were Kingston residents before the start of trial but have since left the province, were found guilty of failing to enrol the home with Tarion Warranty Corporation (“Tarion”) and of failing to register themselves as builders with Tarion.

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.  

“Ontario’s residential construction industry is regulated to give homeowners confidence in the ability of their builder to complete construction of their new home and in the statutory warranty protecting it.  When individuals like Mr. Mauro and Ms. Querengesser fail to register as builders with Tarion and enrol a new home in the province’s mandatory warranty program, they risk undermining that confidence,” said David Roberts, Director of Enforcement at Tarion.  “Tarion takes illegal building seriously and our enforcement team works hard to ensure that builders who break the law are investigated and prosecuted.” 

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 2006, Tarion’s Enforcement Department laid 364 charges against illegal builders and a total of $ 674,320 in fines was levied by the courts.

“Tarion’s investigative team is dedicated to protecting new home buyers as well as the overall credibility of the residential construction industry,” said Roberts.  “We do this by working in the field every day, with municipalities, building officials, the Ontario Ministry of Labour and local Home Builders’ Associations to root out fraudulent builders.”  

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, new home buyers are encouraged to visit the “Find a Builder” section of Tarion’s website to confirm that their builder is registered to build in the province of Ontario and to obtain additional information from other customers 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: Corinne Smirle, Sr. Manager, Corporate Communications at (416) 229-3863 or corinne.smirle@tarion.com