We posted this in the free for all, but it’s worth taking a closer look: Eleven pre-sales buyers at the Vancouver Olympic Village are unhappy with their units and are trying to get out of their contract. They complain about changes to plan and faulty fireplaces. Presales contracts of course always favor the developer, and these issues aren’t enough to break the agreement, so the approach their lawyer is taking is to claim that the City of Vancouver took over as developer. Since they aren’t listed on the paperwork this would be a technicality that could nullify the contract. If they manage to make this argument work and other buyers want a way out of their purchases it could be more trouble for the O.V.
The buyers put down deposits of between $60,000 and $300,000 for False Creek condos priced from a low of $550,000 to units that sold in the millions of dollars.
They’re being asked to close their deals by the end of the month.
On Thursday, Baynham filed writs in B.C. Supreme Court against developer Millennium Water on behalf of six of his clients, who have addresses in Vancouver and West Vancouver.
Baynham says the City of Vancouver is the owner of the property, after bailing out Millennium when it couldn’t get financing. But that’s not disclosed in the sales agreements, he says, so the contracts are invalid and should be rescinded.
The city argues that Millenium still owns the project and is the developer, the city is simply the bank.
We saw a lot of pre-sales buyers try to walk away from their contracts during the mini-crash a few years ago, and developers suing the for the difference between their deposit and the current market value. It’s interesting that these buyers are trying to get out of their contracts while the stats still show that Vancouver property prices are still at an all-time record high.
