This is a guest article by Tom Barber, Ontario's New Home Ombuds.
The New Home Ombuds office was established in the fall of 2008 to investigate complaints about Tarion and to act as a source of information for homeowners about Ontario’s new home warranty program.
The Ombuds receives over 200 complaints each year. And since 2022, the Ombuds has made over 40 recommendations to Tarion to address homeowner complaints and improve service.
Here are a few of the ways we can help you:
1. Provide you with information about Tarion’s processes
Unsure what to do next to address items in your newly built home, or who to contact at Tarion? Are you concerned the warranty process is not proceeding as it should be?
We can help by providing information about the warranty process and referrals so that potential issues can be raised with the appropriate staff at Tarion. We operate independently of Tarion and your communication with the Ombuds office is confidential.
2. Review complaints about unfairness at Tarion
Are you experiencing delays receiving responses from Tarion? Do you feel Tarion has not considered your information or evidence in its assessment of an item? These are just some of the issues we can help address.
We can review complaints about delay, communication and Tarion’s decision-making process. With your consent we will contact Tarion to gather information about any fairness issues identified. If our review finds that Tarion has treated you unfairly, we can make recommendations to address the issue(s).
Tip: It is important that you contact us while you are experiencing the issue, as we generally only review issues that are current and may not be able to assist with past issues.
3. Investigate systemic fairness issues
The review of an individual complaint might raise concerns about a potential systemic issue that requires further investigation. We can consider whether Tarion’s processes need to change. If we find that there are fairness issues, we will recommend remedies that will address the systemic issue and result in fair outcomes for all homeowners.
So, if you believe there have been problems with how Tarion handled your file, please contact us at 1-877-880-3828 or ombuds@newhomeombuds.ca.