Today I am going to present almost a "Best of" from a number of my articles relating to condominiums. The full text of each of these sections can be found on the internet at www.schwarzgillen.com.
 
The first thing you all have to remember relates to your Agreement of Purchase and Sale. If something you want is not in writing and signed for or initialed by you and the Vendor it will probably not be binding and for our purposes assume generally this is the rule in every case. (note - in some situations lawyers can find a way around this rule). Therefore don=t accept promises unless in writing and signed for!!!!!
 
Levies and development charges - you will find them in the offer, usually in tiny print that says, that if the Vendor gets charged later, he can pass the charges onto you. Make sure these clauses are deleted or a monetary maximum is written into the offer.
 
Extensions - Make sure that the offer restricts extensions to the provisions of the Ontario New Home Warranty Program (ONHWP) and you don=t have any clauses where the Vendor can try and get around the ONHWP and you understand the extension terms and rights. Today almost all the builders have a clause that says that you are contracting out of your rights under ONHWP and the builder can extend for as example an additional 18 months. I do not know if this will stand up in court but do you want to be the one who finds out? The moral of this issue is be prepared for the delay.
 
Substitutions - Firstly many of your protections only apply if you abide by the terms of your Agreement of Purchase and Sale. In other words, when you have to pick colours, samples, materials, etc. DO IT ON TIME!!!!! If you do and a significant change is made the ONHWPA says that the change must be of an equal or better quality. Then there are substitutions that if made without your consent (please note most agreements contain your consent to a lot of these things), may be sufficient to terminate the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, recover your deposit and claim damages to a total of $20,000. Other substitutions made without your consent may entitle you to force the Builder to change back to your original selection or for you obtain a cash settlement. In order to determine your rights, more exactly I suggest you speak to your lawyer and have he or she advise you based on your specific circumstance how best to proceed.
 
For those of you coming up on your Occupancy Closing, I thought it would be appropriate to provide our minimum list of what I believe will help you in making sure you are covered during your ONHWP Pre Closing Inspection:
 
1. Insist on having enough time to do the inspection and allow yourself enough time with no need to be anywhere else.
2. Don't Rush!!! Do not let the builders rep push you, insist at moving at you own speed.
3. Write or mark down everything, no matter how small or insignificant.
4. Do not accept promises of repair during inspection - if something is not right mark it down.
5. Try every light, socket, tap, drain, toilet , every door, every lock, every window, every appliance, every thing that could be or go wrong.
6. Watch for stains on carpet, scratches on wood floors, cracks in paint or drywall, areas where they forgot a 2nd coat of paint, etc.
7. Look for water stains or spots on walls and if you see them insist on knowing why and where they came from
8. Go check out the common areas -lobbies, garbage rooms, parking areas, lockers, pools, tennis courts, health clubs etc. - remember you own part of the common area and if parts are incomplete, wrong or defective, get them on the list!

 
Perhaps the most difficult part of writing these articles relates not the actual writing, but thinking of a topic to address. So help me!!! Mail, deliver or fax letters to the magazine or to us, use the web site (www.schwarzgillen.com), email (schwarzgillen@sprint.ca) and give us your questions, concerns, critiques and quandaries. I will try to deal with them in print or electronic form. Good luck and happy condo hunting I'll talk to you next issue!!
 

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