Gotham | 53m | 17 fl | Completed

[Ide]

Originally Posted by Karma22

Hi everyone,
I am interested in meeting if anyone decides to and pick a location and time.
For me I have a lot at steak in this unit and unfortunately my circumstance has changed with the delays taking so long that I am going to have to list my unit as soon as I am able. I too worry about going public with this as I'm afraid it may hurt our resale value. I'm sure eventually people would get over it but that doesn't help me in the interm and I can not let this nightmare dig into my personal or financial life anymore then it already has over the last year. But I do agree something should be done with lamb directly. at this point I am just not sure what the options are...He seems to have a pretty tight contract.

I proposed a meeting for next Tuesday at Minto Place for 5:30 as a starting point, at the green wall next to 360 Steak House.

[Ide]

Originally Posted by Elowyn

For those of you debating the quality of construction...
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_VoD6...A/p0fMvuHmOx4/w1338-h889-no/DSC01530.ARW

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-YXzX4...A/rHA638fjCuc/w1338-h889-no/DSC01533.ARW

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gr-HE...A/0f3D9yK12l0/w1338-h889-no/DSC01487.ARW

I would definitely be up for meeting with anyone else that would be interested.

Proposed meeting near Gotham, next Tuesday 5:30 at Minto Place near the green wall adjacent to 360 Steak House. If you do not mind, what floor is your unit? I was unofficially told that the 16th floor are not yet completed. Mistakes in drywall are easy to fix, the ones in the exposed concrete nearly impossible to fix.

[voltz8]

Originally Posted by Ide

Many people screw up on these ones, starting with the city inspector! Do you have more photos? I am not able to figure out the last photo: it is next to the window...where? It is not even finished...and I agree with you, no one seems to have paid attention to anything. I wonder if others in this forum who got their PDI have also pictures to share. What was Marissa's and the finishing foreman responses to your photos and remarks? I am surprised that these passed city inspection: he must have been asleep at the wheel.

The building did not get passed by city inspectors, that is why we are delayed until April.

My PDI was about 10 pages long. I hope they really pay attention to detail the second time around.

[jcphoenix]

Originally Posted by Ide

Through my lawyer today, I learnt that some of us are considering litigation and that Lamb Dev Corp will not compensate us directly at closing for delays and we will have to apply to Tarion.

That is...infuriating to hear that they're forcing us to go through the process for the limited amount that Tarion offers us as compensation, rather than admitting their wrongdoing. You'd think they'd be apologetic about what they've put us through. Instead, they're forcing us to drag that (minimal) Tarion compensation owed to us out of them

Ide - regarding the raise in our condo fees being a subsidy for the unsold units that builder is keeping in their inventory - that actually makes a lot of sense and if that's true, that just goes to show the lows that this developer will sink to to grab at every last little cent they can at our expense.

---

I think the small claims court idea is intriguing but I have next to no experience/knowledge on that front.

---

I could make that 5:30pm meeting next Tuesday at Minto Place if others are up for it.

[nredding]

Unfortunately, I think you're stuck with the Tarion process. Although Tarion is supposed to help new home and condo buyers, I think it really protects the developers from home and condo buyers!

[Ralphedelominius]

Our PDI was mid-January (several delays ago), at this point I think we'd be justified in asking for another one before moving in.

[rocketphish]

While we're on the subject of Tarion:

Tarion chair says confidence in firm steadily building

David Sali, OBJ
Published on March 25, 2015

The Ottawa lawyer who chairs the private corporation that protects buyers of new homes in Ontario says the organization has boosted consumer protection dramatically in his 10 years on the board, but more work still needs to be done.

Christopher Spiteri's term as chair of Tarion Warranty Corporation ends in April.

Chris Spiteri, who became the first local person to head the board of Tarion Warranty Corporation in more than 25 years when he was elected last May, said homebuyers used to complain that the non-profit agency was biased in favour of builders when arbitrating disputes.

“I don’t hear (those complaints) anymore,” Mr. Spiteri, a partner at Spiteri & Ursulak, said in a recent interview with OBJ. “In some ways, I think maybe we’re a little too humble in getting that message out.”

Over the past decade, Tarion has boosted protection against problems such as major structural defects from $150,000 to $300,000 and has extended warranties from just two years to as much as seven, he said. The agency has also launched an external review of its dispute resolution mechanism to ensure it’s as fair as possible, he noted, adding it successfully resolves such cases “almost 100 per cent of the time.”

Mr. Spiteri, whose one-year term as chair ends in April, said the corporation is now focused on cracking down on illegal building, which he calls a “real problem in the province.”

All dwellings built for sale in Ontario must be constructed by builders who are registered with Tarion and have proven they have proper expertise and the financial resources to protect buyers’ deposits. The only exceptions are rental properties, homes built by the owners themselves and seasonal housing such as cottages.

Mr. Spiteri said buyers of illegally built homes can be on the hook for repair costs due to shoddy workmanship and can be liable if the builder’s employees are injured on the job.

“For new homebuyers, it’s a real problem because they’re unaware of what warranty rights are extended to them,” he said. “There’s a series of impacts that new homebuyers aren’t aware of.”

He said Tarion will be vetting applications for new building permits much more rigorously in the future to ensure builders have the proper paperwork. In the past, he said, violations were often brought to the warranty company’s attention only after the fact.

“If we can take this step forward to ensure that new homes are predominantly done legally by legally registered builders, I think we have served new homebuyers tenfold over,” Mr. Spiteri said. “This is the biggest initiative to protect consumers that I’ve seen Tarion take.”

But an NDP MPP who has tabled a private member’s bill that would give the province’s auditor general and ombudsman the power to investigate Tarion says he doesn’t think illegal building is a major worry for most consumers.

“It may be an issue … and I support that initiative, but that’s the concern that I’m hearing at the doors,” said Jagmeet Singh, adding he hears far more complaints about legitimate builders who dodge their responsibility to homebuyers. “People tell me, ‘Hey, we bought from this builder and the builder’s not fixing and Tarion’s not paying up.’”

Mr. Singh’s bill, entitled the Tarion Accountability and Oversight Act, would also force the corporation to ensure that employees who earn more than $100,000 a year are included on the provincial “sunshine list” and make its bylaws subject to government approval.

Tarion, which was created by the province in the 1970s to oversee the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act, is funded mainly through enrolment fees of up to $1,600 per home that are usually passed on to buyers.

Because the corporation doesn’t receive direct government funding, it isn’t subject to provincial oversight. But Mr. Singh argues the enrolment fees amount to a de facto tax on homebuyers.

“Because the government has basically said, ‘You are the only warranty provider for new homes,’ in effect they’ve created a situation where everyone who buys a new home in Ontario has to give money to Tarion,” he said. “If they’re forcing everyone to pay Tarion, we want to know how the money’s being used and what the salaries are.”

Mr. Spiteri said he’s proud of Tarion’s record when it comes to protecting consumers. Each year, he noted, only a handful of disputes between buyers and builders end up at the provincial Licence Appeal Tribunal, the arbitrator of last resort.

“That’s a remarkable number,” he said. “By the time it gets to that point, Tarion has already gone to great lengths to bring about a resolution.”

http://www.obj.ca/Real-Estate/Constructi...s-confidence-in-firm-steadily-building/1

[Ide]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

While we're on the subject of Tarion:

Interesting that Mr. Spiteri talks about collecting more money from buyers, not addressing shoddy practices from licensed builders!

I was told by someone who did a lot of PDIs that Tarion's rules are about appearances - if it appears right, it must be right. Its criterias are rather minimal and forbid the use of any instruments (flashlight, level, measuring tape, etc) to validate.

BTW, it would be worth to schedule a meeting of with one of their staff to get assistance with filing with Tarion.

[Orrd]

Sounds good Ide - might as well get that ball rolling. One of the PDIs we were scheduled to do (about 3 delays ago I think) was when there was no operational internal elevator. I called Tarion to see if it was even legal to try to get purchasers to take occupancy using a construction elevator - they were pretty good about getting back to me.

I'm good to meet on Tuesday at the Minto building by the green wall at 530. We could each take a few minutes to explain our thoughts and maybe come up with a unified course of action. The more buyers that group together the greater our chance of being heard and getting this taken care of.

On another note - I still haven't received notice of a delay in regards to our April 1rst closing. Actually despite a few emails sent to Marisa, Debbie and Brad Lamb, I haven't heard anything from anyone. Has anyone heard anything?

[jcphoenix]

We will know by end of day today or else by Monday early afternoon.

City inspectors were on site today and I believe will be possibly Monday morning as well. I believe the checklist of things that the builder was required to complete has been done; whether there are other things though, who knows.

Seems like a toss-up right now whether we'll be moving next week or not.

[cr872190]

City inspectors were on site yesterday for final mechanical inspection for levels P5 to 12 and mechanical penthouse (could very well be a 2+ day job). No occupancy inspection has been scheduled at this point.

[jcphoenix]

^That doesn't sound promising...

If an occupancy inspection hasn't been scheduled yet, that sounds rather unlikely that we're moving in on Wednesday. But I would hope that they would inform us ASAP that we're not going to be moving in then...

[Karma22]

DELAYED AGAIN!!!!!!!!

Well, it is Friday.....

I love how they call it a "NEW DELAY"

Received this in my inbox today... I think some Vodka is in order for this evening.
I'm just going to plan on September...??? I don't even know what to say...

We are informing you of a new delay in occupancy of your suite. Due to some unexpected and additional items identified as required for occupancy by various City Inspectors yesterday (that will take an additional number of days for the site to complete,) we are giving you a revised firm occupancy date of 24 April 2015.

We are working very hard to ensure that your suite is complete in a timely fashion at a level of style and quality that we envisioned. With the new and unexpected requirements clearly identified by the City, and the site working diligently, we believe there should be no more extensions beyond this one.

Occupancy date notices will be going to each of your lawyers in the next few days.

NOTE: if you have already been to your lawyer and provided occupancy closing paperwork and cheques; there is no requirement to return and revise anything as you will be credited on final closing for any over payment on the initial occupancy.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Debbie MacDonald via email at [email protected] or by phone at 416.368.5262.

[jcphoenix]

That's awful Karma22. I know you didn't receive the notice we did a week or two ago of delay so I figured it was inevitable that you would get an additional delay. That said, considering you've been delayed from April 10? till April 24, I suspect that means us on the lower floors have also been delayed yet again by another week or two.

Their excuse about these "unexpected and additional" items is ludicrous, honestly. If it's required by the city, it's obviously an essential bare minimum thing needed and the fact that after having built countless condo buildings, they still don't have their — together enough to figure out what those essentials are speaks volumes.

As Ide and Ordd have committed to, I'm down for the meeting on Tuesday and I hope that we can get a couple more owners out to discuss - even if we don't figure everything out as far as a course of action, at least it'll be nice to meet up and vent together hah.

By the way, the only good thing to come out of all this is that we're gonna be a tighter community in the building right from the beginning hah. When we all finally move in, we should meet up at a pub somewhere for drinks (I assume the common area will be done never, based on the pace they work at). We'll surely all need it.

[Manny12]

April 24th?! Damn, that's crazy. I feel for you Karma.

[Ralphedelominius]

Originally Posted by Karma22

we believe there should be no more extensions beyond this one.

It's almost like we've heard this before, on several occasions. One more delay and we graduate from 'several' to 'many', don't we?

[canabiz]

Originally Posted by Orrd

Sounds good Ide - might as well get that ball rolling. One of the PDIs we were scheduled to do (about 3 delays ago I think) was when there was no operational internal elevator. I called Tarion to see if it was even legal to try to get purchasers to take occupancy using a construction elevator - they were pretty good about getting back to me.

I'm good to meet on Tuesday at the Minto building by the green wall at 530. We could each take a few minutes to explain our thoughts and maybe come up with a unified course of action. The more buyers that group together the greater our chance of being heard and getting this taken care of.

On another note - I still haven't received notice of a delay in regards to our April 1rst closing. Actually despite a few emails sent to Marisa, Debbie and Brad Lamb, I haven't heard anything from anyone. Has anyone heard anything?

Brad Lamb tweeted a few times today.

If he has time to tweet, surely he has time to answer emails. Just sayin'...

[Manny12]

My occupancy date moved from April 2nd to April 7th. Surprised it's only 5 days.

[Ide]

I bet Marisa a beer if April 2nd (my 'occupancy' date) would not to be...so, whenever we meet for my PDI, the drink is on me, Marisa! Hopefully, you read this blog.

Usually, I get an email from Debbie late Fridays after I left work that I read on Mondays after I learnt here reading JC :-)
I raised quite a fuss about having the 240 suites from floor 2 to floor 16 going occupancy in 2 days and how they expected us to move-in in these 2 days! Even if we were moving one or two boxes each, we would not make it in 2 days. May be this time is it! Let's cross our fingers...and they may have listened...who knows! How about asking Mr. Lamb to come down, meet us and baptism Gotham with a magnum of Veuve Cliquot!

[ServiceGuy]

Originally Posted by Ide

Its criterias are rather minimal and forbid the use of any instruments (flashlight, level, measuring tape, etc) to validate.

That is not correct. A flashlight to inspect a den with no lighting is allowed. A flashlight held against the drywall to expose "defects" is not. Levels are allowed but each finishing trade has specific tolerances- all of which are specified in the Tarion guidelines. Tape measure definitely allowed. I am one that deals with PDI lists on a regular basis and I would say Tarion is pretty balanced between builder and purchaser these days as far as individual units go. Common area issues I am not as experienced with.