Does buyer have recourse if condo doesn’t match pictures in materials?

Q: We were first purchasers when we made a down payment on our condo. Promotional materials plus the website showed large, clear picture windows, which we thought would highlight a fabulous view. With the building under construction, it’s obvious the windows aren’t anything like that. Instead, each window section is made up of several small panels. Do we have any recourse?

A: Ask for a copy of the condo’s offering plan, where it should state the manufacturer and model numbers of all materials used, including the windows that are being installed.

If the windows going up aren’t being installed in error, notify the builder and condo marketers of this by registered mail, saying that you aren’t willing to move forward in light of this deception, assuming you aren’t.

If you’re thinking that you’ll just change the windows once you move in, don’t. Even if you’re technically allowed to change the glass, the windows must still match the overall appearance of the condo complex, where the type of full picture window you wanted is apparently nonexistent.

If enough promises are not delivered, you and other condo buyers may have a case against the builders for fraudulent concealment.

Keep that fraud suspicion handy for leverage if the owner/builder balks at letting you out of your contract with full deposit refund. Some states have tightened laws to make it harder for homeowners to sue builders, requiring mediators to settle most disputes out of court.

Ask for an adjustment

You may have to see an attorney; he or she will have a better idea if the condo sellers made deliberate material misrepresentations, which you relied on and would suffer damages from as a result.

Another possible “out” is if there’s an “outside” or “drop dead” date on your purchase agreement that entitles you to cancel the contract with your money back if the unit isn’t ready in time.

If you still want to buy the unit, and these small panel windows are what you’re stuck with, then you’re owed a sizable adjustment of some kind.