Buyers who had Surrey contracts abruptly cancelled get court victory

A group of people who had their pre-sales contracts for Surrey townhouse units abruptly cancelled while on the verge of moving in last year have won an initial court victory over the developer.

The group of people filed a notice of civil claim in BC Supreme Court last September against 0821034 B.C. Ltd. and Ansu Development Ltd. after having their deposits returned to them and their contracts cancelled for the Creekside Terrace development at 6388 King George Blvd. Some of the contracts on the 37 planned units go back to 2017, with buyers waiting years through repeated delays on the project.

With the contracts cancelled, Ansu has been trying to sell to new buyers at a different price because the developer told the original buyers that the sales at the old price would not cover the construction costs.

Ansu went to court because the civil claim includes something called certificates of pending litigation – simply called CPLs – and those can make it difficult for sales to buyers wary of a project tied up in court.

Ansu asked a BC Supreme Court judge to cancel the CPLs before the case can go to trial.

The judge, however, agreed with the original buyers and dismissed the developers’ attempt to quash the CPLs.

“I agree with the plaintiffs that their claim encompasses a claim to an interest in land,” reads the court ruling. “The plaintiffs’ claim for specific performance essentially embodies a claim against the land itself and, as such, is a claim to an interest in land requiring notice by way of a CPL. The plaintiffs seek to enforce the transfer of property to them of the land comprising the strata lots, effectively claiming proprietary rights or equitable interest that allows the plaintiffs, as buyers, to obtain title to the land and not just monetary compensation.”