Ontario's new home warranty program which is now known as Tarion Warranty Corp. has a provision within its warranty policy that has the potential to impact thousands of new home and condominium buyers in Ontario.
Most reputable builders are registered with TARION which provides buyers with various degrees of warranty coverage up to a maximum of 7 years on specific elements of the property. A problem arises however when the home is re-sold by the original purchaser(s) and never occupied. Despite a property all ready being registered under the TARION warrantry program by the builder, TARION requires that the "sellers" of the property must also become registered with TARION at a cost of $600, in those instances where they have not occupied the dwelling and are simply re-selling or flipping it. Failure to do so can result in the property's owners being fined up to $25,000 and or imprisoned for up to one year.
This little known caveat within the TARION warranty program appears to make little sense in terms of protecting consumers and serves only to fatten TARION's coffers with every $600 registration fee they collect from the resellers of unoccupied properties. If you are contemplating purchasing a new home or condo strictly as an investment to resell without anyone ever living in it, please note your obligation to register with TARION. The fee of $600 while seemingly nothing more than a money grab is much less than the consequences of not registering and getting caught!
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