Regulator seeks to revoke Ontario homebuilder's licence, alleging illegal building and selling
CBC
Ontario's home construction regulator is seeking to revoke the licence of a builder that has admitted to selling homes without legal approvals and left more than 100 buyers out millions of dollars in down payments.
The Home Construction Regulatory Authority (HCRA) has started the legal process of revoking and refusing to renew licences of three corporations associated with Sunrise Homes, which the regulator says is the most serious action it can take because it effectively puts a builder out of business.
"Builders that attempt to bypass the regulator and the requirements for building and selling new homes in Ontario will never be acceptable," HCRA spokesperson Tess Lin said in an emailed statement.
Last month, CBC Toronto reported on issues with the Sunrise Homes company, including projects going into receivership, allegations of misappropriation of funds and one particular project that's recently left 117 buyers out about $14 million collectively — of which they are trying to recover about $10 million through Tarion, the provincial warranty corporation.
Faran Haq spent $100,000 on a down payment for a pre-construction home that was supposed to be built by a Sunrise corporation called Sunrise Acquisitions (Stayner) Inc. near Wasaga Beach, Ont.
Instead of moving in this summer, as he expected, the project went into receivership in February and Haq is now hoping to recover some of his funds through Tarion.
He says news of the regulator seeking to take action against Sunrise has brought him some relief, but more needs to be done.
"The HCRA at least recognizes the financial impact and the emotional impact that this has on families such as myself," Haq said.
According to the Oct. 30 notice, the HCRA is seeking to revoke the licence of two corporations associated with Sunrise: Sunrise Acquisitions (Barrie) Inc. and Sunrise Homes Ltd. It is also seeking to refuse to renew the licence of Sunrise Acquisitions (Patterson) Inc.
Three projects associated with different Sunrise corporations have gone into receivership: Sunrise Acquisitions (Hwy 7) Inc., Sunrise Acquisitions (Elmvale) Inc., and Sunrise Acquisitions (Stayner) Inc., which was supposed to build Haq's home. However, their licences are still active. The HCRA says it generally can't take action against corporations until the receivership is resolved.
"When I found out about the information on the builder and the defaults and the receiverships at the other sites, it definitely sort of felt like the carpet was pulled under my feet," Haq said.
"We feel wronged … To have a corporation out there that has a licence to build, even after committing all that they have committed."
He says he's looking for the regulatory body to impose fines, along with legal penalties.
"The thing that stings the buyers is primarily financial," he said. "I think that the incentive that the builder had with what they pulled off is really financial. And so it should sting them financially, which would mean that there should be some sort of fines."
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