To jilted Vaughan condo buyer, consumer ministry says 'not authorized to intervene'

Nijhawan was advised by Doug Ford to contact the Ministry of Consumer Services

Vaughan Citizen
December 3, 2018
Dina Al-Shibeeb

Himanshu Nijhawan, 34, is one of the jilted buyers of a pre-construction Icona condo in Vaughan that came to a complete stop after developers halted the project for “not obtaining satisfactory financing.”

Before Icona, the cancellation of another Vaughan condo project, Cosmos, in August, angered people. Former buyers from both Icona and Cosmos are now using lawyer Ted Charney to represent their legal claims.

One of the main shared sentiments between these groups is that they want succinct consumer protection.

Nijhawan was advised to send his complaint to the Ministry of Consumer Services after sending a message to the man he deeply supports, Premier Doug Ford, on Sept. 19.

In his message to Ford, Nijhawan told him how the condos have “appreciated more than $100,000 over the year-and-half they held our deposits,” and how he, like some other former buyers, are now outpriced from the market. Ford told him that the issue falls in the area of responsibility of Minister of Government and Consumer Services Bill Walker.”

Ford added that he “forwarded” Nijhawan’s email to Walker.

On  Nov. 29, Nijhawan received a message from the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, on behalf of Michèle Sanborn, director of the policy and governance branch.

“The ministry is not authorized to provide legal advice regarding the issue you have raised and is not authorized to intervene in these matters," the email stated.

Options were offered for Nijhawan, including, “You may wish to contact a lawyer or paralegal,” adding that he could obtain the names of lawyers or paralegals from the Law Society of Ontario referral service.

“They may provide a free consultation of up to 30 minutes.”

In addition to supplying Nijhawan with some key information to help him in his quest, he was told he could contact Tarion regarding his complaint.

Tarion, a nonprofit corporation, was created more than four decades ago to regulate home building and provide new-home warranties in Ontario.

Nijhawan was also told that “the government is currently being briefed on ministry files pertaining to Tarion, pre-construction condos, Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act and the Condo Act.”

But there might be some light at the end of the tunnel for these jilted condo buyers.

“The ministry has taken note of your concerns and will consider them as the government decides how to move forward on future initiatives regarding pre-construction condos and vendor/builder regulation,” it said. “The ministry appreciates that this is an important issue.”

Municipally, Vaughan’s Mayor, Maurizio Bevilacqua, told York Region Media that he has raised the issue about these condo cancellations, but it is only provincially that a bylaw or any effective action can be taken to protect consumers.