Court rejects cancelled Cosmos condo buyers´ application to void contracts
(The Star Toronto Raptors)

Buyers of Liberty Developments’ cancelled Cosmos condos have lost their application to have their purchase agreements on the pre-construction units declared unlawful by an Ontario Superior Court of Justice. In his ruling, Justice Michael Penny sided with the developers but found that voiding the contract would not be in the purchasers’ or the developers’ best interest.The buyers had hoped that a legal victory would clear the way for them to seek compensation for having the project cancelled two years after they paid tens of thousands of dollars in deposits. Even though they had their deposits refunded, many of the buyers say they have been left behind on the property ladder because the cost of homes soared in the Toronto region during that period. Lawyer Bob Aaron, who writes a condo law column for the Toronto Star, called the outcome “unfortunate for the buyers, not just (of Cosmos) but for every project that has been cancelled.�“It sets up an expectation that the builders are going to win,� he said. Some Cosmos buyers, who had missed work to attend court last week, said they needed time consult their lawyer and consider their options.Ted Charney, the lawyer representing 605 buyers of 454 Cosmos condos near the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, would not comment on the decision. He argued in court that the purchase agreements were unlawful because they included language that exceeded the legal conditions under which a developer is allowed to terminate that contract.Condo vendors — in this case numbered companies that share the same address as Liberty Developments — can legally terminate a project on the basis of “having taken all commercially reasonable steps� to obtain satisfactory financing under the termination conditions in the Tarion addendum attached to the purchase agreements on new homes. Tarion is the home-building industry’s regulator.Read more: Cosmos condo buyers want $100K and an ex ...