TORONTO — Ontario’s Home Construction Regulatory Authority (HCRA) has announced Albion Building Consultant Inc. has had its licence to build and sell homes in Ontario revoked, the most severe action the HCRA can take against a licensed builder.
The HCRA is revoking the builder’s licence following Albion’s prior convictions in the Ontario Court of Justice for failing to enrol new homes in the warranty program with Tarion, stated a Feb. 15 release.
Last year, Albion was convicted of failing to enrol new homes in the warranty program with Tarion. The convictions stemmed from an investigation concluding Albion had built 11 new homes without first enrolling them with Tarion. Albion was sentenced to a fine of $15,000 plus a $3,750 victim fine surcharge for each of the 11 counts, bringing the total fine amount to $206,250.
The fine, to be paid to the Ontario Court of Justice, has not been paid.
In addition, Zamal Hossain of Albion was convicted of acting as an officer of a company that failed to enrol new homes. Farida Haque was also convicted of acting as a vendor of a new home without being licensed.
Prior to these convictions, Albion and its officers and directors had a history of non-compliance for building homes without registering as a builder and for failing to enrol new homes in the Greater Toronto Area, including convictions in 2016 and 2019, stated the HCRA. In light of the convictions, the HCRA notified Albion, through a formal Notice of Proposal, of its intention to deny Albion’s licence renewal application. Albion unsuccessfully appealed this decision at the Licence Appeal Tribunal in January 2023.
To protect the interests of existing homebuyers, the HCRA stated, Albion may continue to complete homes that were already under construction. Upon completion of these homes Albion’s licence will be immediately revoked. The Ontario Builder Directory will subsequently be updated to officially recognize Albion’s licence status as revoked.
“Enrolling a home is essential to ensuring consumer protection,” stated Wendy Moir, the HCRA’s CEO and registrar, in a statement. “Licensed homebuilders must act in accordance with the law, and with integrity and honesty, or face serious consequences.”
To receive and maintain a licence, builders and vendors must demonstrate that they have the right technical skills to build homes, the financial capacity to run a homebuilding operation and will adhere to the requirements in the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act as well as New Home Construction Licensing Act, 2017 including the Code of Ethics.
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