New lawsuits filed in relation to affordable home project debacle

B.C. Housing has filed two new lawsuits this week against people accused of abusing an affordable home ownership program even as the minister for the Crown agency insisted problems with the scheme were long fixed.

Both civil claims were filed in B.C. Supreme Court Tues‐ day against buyers who al‐ legedly bought into Victoria's 135-unit Vivid building through a real estate agent who is herself being sued for alleged violations of terms drawn up to ensure the cutrate condos went to "quali‐ fied buyers."

The newest claims bring the total number of lawsuits filed in relation to Vivid to 15.

And in an additional twist to the somewhat confusing math around the project, B.C. Housing also confirmed Wednesday that 19 units have been sold back to the agency for their original pur‐ chase price - less legal costs and taxes.

"This is unacceptable and obviously infuriating for everyone involved," Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon told CBC's The Early Edition.

'Going after the folks who broke the rules'

Kahlon responded Wednesday to outrage over a CBC report on alleged viola‐ tions of B.C.'s Affordable Home Ownership Program by people who already owned property - and who al‐ legedly rented out their Vivid units instead of living in them as they'd agreed.

The lawsuits raise ques‐ tions about due diligence on the project and B.C. Hous‐ ing's claims in 2021 - when construction completed that Vivid would be "great news" for middle-income families.

In a news release issued at the time, the agency insis‐ ted purchasers "could not own property anywhere else in the world" and "had to agree to live in the property for two years before they can sell."

But in explaining a some‐ what tortured timeline, Kahlon said Wednesday that those requirements were not actually in place when Vivid began in 2016 under the Lib‐ eral government.

"When the project was launched, there was no provi‐ sions involved. People could buy property if they had oth‐ er investments. Their income wasn't really tested," he said.

Kahlon claimed all that changed in 2018 when the NDP government took over and placed covenants on the properties requiring buyers to agree to live in their units for at least two years.

He said the developer was "responsible for identifying people and making sure of their incomes and that they had no other primary resi‐ dence."

"Part of the challenge we have here is that that process happened and clearly we have individuals who broke the rules. In some cases, we had people who had invest‐ ments elsewhere. In some cases, we had people using real estate corporations to hide their incomes," he said.

"It's infuriating and we're going after the folks who broke the rules to obtain this housing."

A home on Icarus Drive In a statement to CBC, de‐ veloper Byron Chard said Vivid was a pilot that "predated" the Affordable Home Ownership Program as it now stands.

"Purchasers at Vivid were required to have lived in B.C. for 12 months at the time of purchase, earn no more than $150,000 a year, and qualify for mortgage financing with a 10 per cent deposit," Chard says.

"At the time of purchase, buyers committed to living in the building for two full years after completion as their pri‐ mary residence."

According to one of the lawsuits filed this week, B.C. Housing does not know the current address of a woman who paid $503,280 for her unit at Vivid.

The claim says the woman was a manager living in Nanaimo at the time her pur‐ chase completed.

According to court docu‐ ments, a woman with the same name was also named in a series of claims and counterclaims launched over plans to purchase and trans‐ form the Nanaimo marina in‐ to a waterfront development featuring float homes and se‐ niors' independent living.

The court documents de‐ scribed her as being "en‐ gaged in the business of as‐ sisting Chinese nationals finding business opportuni‐ ties in Canada to facilitate im‐ migration."

Documents from yet an‐ other court case name the woman as one of the owners of a Victoria condominium in the same building as another couple who are also being sued in relation to their pur‐ chase of a condominium at Vivid.

According to the Vivid documents, the couple own four other condos in Burnaby and Victoria as well as a home on the same Nanaimo street as the address provided by the other woman - Icarus Drive.