‘Yes, I broke the law. Anything else?’: Toronto home builder banned from new construction

In an exceptionally rare move, Ontario’s new home construction regulator has stripped a Toronto builder of his licence to construct new homes.

The Home Construction Regulatory Authority (HCRA) has revoked the licence of Albion Building Consultant Inc. for failing to enrol new homes in the warranty program with Tarion.

“Enrolling a home is essential to ensuring consumer protection,” said Wendy Moir, the HCRA’s chief executive officer and registrar.

Albion was convicted last year of failing to enroll new homes in the Tarion program, which is mandatory.

The company, based on Danforth Avenue, was convicted of 11 violations, and fined $15,000 for each plus a $3,750 victim surcharge on each, bringing the total fine to $206,250.

The fine, to be paid to the Ontario Court of Justice, is still outstanding.

The HCRA said “Albion and its officers and directors had a history of non-compliance without registering as a builder…including convictions in 2016 and 2019” the regulator said.

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Global News showed up at Albion’s offices on Danforth Avenue to locate Zamal Hossain, an officer and director of the company, who was also personally convicted for not enrolling new homes. His wife, Farida Haque, was also convicted of acting as a vendor of a new home without being licenced.

“Yes, I broke the law. Anything else?” said Hossain.

“One hundred per cent, I agree with that,” Hossain said when asked about the requirement to register warranties.

“All consumers of new homes are entitled to that protection,” said Muir, who said her organization investigated the organization based on complaints.

Hossain said he will pay the court-imposed fine.

“It’s not due yet, they gave us one year to pay, we’ll pay,” he said.

But Hossain claims the majority of smaller home builders do not pay for warranties as required by law, a claim the regulator said it could not confirm.

Hossain told Global News he was being investigated because of his skin colour.

“I’m a brown guy. English is my second language that’s why this happened in this country,” he insisted.

Hossain claimed builders from Italian or Portuguese backgrounds routinely break the law but face no consequences.

Muir said the regulator is only concerned that builders are following the law.

“We hope actions and future actions are a warning to builders that depriving consumers of warranty — we will take action,” she said.

Albion is allowed to complete work on homes that have already been contracted but is not permitted to build new homes, or solicit new construction business.

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