The Ontario government is increasing protections for new home buyers, while cracking down on developers who act in bad faith.
Builders and vendors of new homes who unfairly cancel a new home project or terminate a purchase agreement can now face double the fines.
Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery Kaleed Rasheed announced the proposed changes in Windsor on Thursday.
"We have heard stories from new home buyers who have been ripped off from unethical developers who try to cancel contracts, only to sell the same unit for tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars more," said Rasheed. "This is unacceptable. This type of appalling behaviour will not be tolerated on our government's watch."
If passed, the changes under the New Home Construction Licensing Act (NHCLA) would increase the existing maximum financial penalties from $25,000 to $50,000 per infraction, with no limit to additional monetary benefit penalties.
Unethical developers could also face the risk of permanently losing their builder's license if these practices continue.
"I don't hear about this issue too much in the City of Windsor, but we know that it happens, and so this protection is all about making sure that the consumers, people who are putting deposits down with developers for new projects, that they're protected," said Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens.
The proposed changes would give the Home Construction Regulatory Authority (HCRA) the power to use the money received from these penalties to make payments directly to consumers who faced losses in bad deals with developers.
