Toronto, ON, April 29, 2005 – Residential home builder Terrence McLaughlin of Renfrew was convicted on April 8, 2005 in Renfrew Provincial Court on one count of failing to register with Tarion Warranty Corporation (“Tarion”) and on one count of failing to enrol a unit with Tarion. Mr. McLaughlin was fined a total of $25,000.

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 and must enrol each new home prior to its construction.  Builders who do not register with Tarion and enrol new homes in Ontario’s mandatory warranty program do not inform purchasers of their right to statutory warranty coverage.

“It is important for new home buyers to have the confidence and peace of mind knowing that their new home is protected by a statutory warranty,” said Dave Roberts, Director of Enforcement at Tarion. “Mr. McLaughlin did not fulfill his responsibilities under provincial law and failed to register with Tarion and enrol a new home.”

In 2004, Tarion’s Enforcement team laid 993 charges against illegal builders.  A total of $575,000 in fines was levied by the courts and two repeat offenders received jail time.

Details about illegal home builder convictions and license revocations are available through Tarion’s website at www.tarion.com or by calling 1-877-9TARION. 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 their after-sales service performance.      

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.

About Tarion

Tarion Warranty Corporation is a private corporation established in 1976 to administer the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act which outlines the warranty protection that all builders must provide to new home and condominium buyers in Ontario. Tarion licenses home builders and ensures that they abide by this legislation, and that consumers are protected when builders fail to fulfill their warranty obligations. Since its inception, over 1.3 million homes have been enrolled by the Corporation.

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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