Condo Pre-sale agreements get extra warnings

Anyone familiar with CB developments Riverbend pre-sale cancellation fiasco won't be suprised by this news: the BC Financial Institutions Commission has ordered that extra warnings be placed on condominium pre-sale agreements to more fully disclose provisions in the contract relating to terminating, extending or assigning purchase agreements.

Buyers will be required to initial the cover page of disclosure statements to confirm the provisions were drawn to their attention.

Pertinent information must also appear in "conspicuous type" on the statement's cover page.

The rules also provide for more disclosure of developers' background, including:
-- Their experience in the development industry.
-- Whether they have been bankrupt in the past five years or been disciplined in the past 10 years for matters relating to real estate, mortgages of land, securities, theft or fraud.
-- Whether any conflict of interest exists that could affect a buyer's purchase decision.

Failure to comply with the disclosure requirements could result in the issuance of cease-marketing orders or "administrative penalties" of up to $50,000.