Written by Miguel Fernandez Morales | Published on May 17, 2024
This is another case of buyers who could not finalize the purchase of new construction homes because the builder went into receivership.
Residents eagerly waiting to settle into a sprawling new community going up near the Barrie South GO Station will likely have to put their moving plans on hold, as the developer behind the project has gone into receivership.
Pace Developments, based in Richmond Hill, has already received flack for issues with the 1,000-home subdivision it is constructing at Yonge and Mapleview Drive just over an hour north of Toronto. A quick look at the Google reviews for the neighbourhood, dubbed Urban North Townhomes, shows a handful of complaints as recently as three weeks ago and as far back as two years ago, some about this development and some about Pace in general.
Among them are allegations that the company is comprised of "con artists" who "won't honour their pre-sales and instead are extorting people for more money." One person pointed to a CBC investigation about the firm "suddenly cancelling years-long sales deals unless buyers pay $100k more."
Then, in March, the site was put into receivership, with more than $47 million in outstanding debt to KingSett Mortgage Corporation — something that will only mean more headaches for buyers. As noted by Storeys per the March 12 court filing, Pace owes $47,099,842.63 as of the beginning of February, with the loan agreement allegedly amended multiple times as it failed to pay up. So, KingSett is now asking the Province to assign a receiver to help it recover some of the money owed. The website for the development was also taken down, as the rights to the domain have apparently expired.
Operating under Mapleview Developments for this particular 50-acre project, Pace has also been accused of "unlawfully terminating dozens of agreements of purchase and sale and misleading 33 purchasers to unethically extract over $3 million from them," according to a statement of allegation from Ontario's Home Construction Regulatory Authority.
"When the HCRA looked into the purchasers' concerns, Mapleview altered most of the APSs and provided those fake versions to the HCRA," the statement, dated November 10, continues.
The allegations of professional misconduct are still being investigated as Pace joins the ranks of other Toronto-area developers criticized for shady practices.
Source: blogTO
For more information about real estate in the Greater Toronto Area, contact Miguel Fernandez Morales at 647-894-0553 or visit www.yourfamily.incomrealestate.com.