WATCH ABOVE: Fariba Hatami received an offer to refund her deposit on her obstructed-view condo after Consumer SOS first aired her story. Now, the builder has pulled out of an offer to refund her deposit. Sean O’Shea reports.
MISSISSAUGA — Fariba Hatami thought the battle with her condominium developer was over, a few days after she told her story to Global News.
“I paid for park view and I got pipe view,” says Hatami, referring to the two-metre-high tangle of natural gas pipes directly outside her first-floor condo unit.
The Mississauga woman says she was explicitly told she would have a “park view” when she agreed to pay about $460,000 for the unit, which is about two months from completion.
But after a site visit, she saw the sprawl of pipes directly in front of her two windows and patio door.
READ MORE: Condo buyer’s dream home turned into nightmare after pipes spoil view
After complaining to the developer about the positioning of the piping, she says she was offered no alternative — such as a choice of a different unit, or the opportunity to get out of the deal.
After the Global News story aired, she says she was contacted by Domenic Zita, Executive Vice President of the VANDYK Group of Companies. In a meeting at the company’s offices, Hatami says Zita was direct.
“He said, ‘What do you want?’ I said, ‘I want out of the deal,'” says Hatami.
She says Zita even had a cheque prepared for the value of her deposit: more than $40,000.
But she says she was surprised it had been prepared in advance, along with a release form.
“I was scared, I wasn’t prepared for it,” says Hatami, who says she wanted to ask her lawyer to review the release she would have to sign.
She says Zita appeared to have no problem with her consulting her lawyer.
But days later, after Hatami signed the release, she says her lawyer suggested asking VANDYK if the company would pay part of her legal costs, about $1,000. At that point, VANDYK allegedly withdrew its offer to allow Hatami out of the purchase agreement.
VANDYK declined a Global News request for an on-camera interview, preferring to send a statement attributed to Zita.
“VANDYK offered to release Ms. Hatami from her legal and binding agreement for the purchase of Suite 109 at our development. The release offer included a full refund ($40,000.) of all deposit monies received from Ms. Hatami, without any offset or penalty, as well as the refund on all upgrades she purchased ($497.20),” it reads.
“In addition, we incurred $2,000 in legal costs, which we will have to absorb. We were notified by her lawyer that the acceptance of the release was conditional on reimbursement of her legal fees. This was an additional cost we weren’t prepared to incur.”
Hatami says she was willing to accept the original offer without legal fees but the company didn’t give her that choice.
“(My) lawyer sent them a second email that we won’t ask for the legal fees and they said no a second time,” she says.
Hatami says she’s unimpressed with how she was treated by VANDYK and would not recommend the developer to anyone considering a condo purchase from the developer.
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