Maria Mak - Burnaby Realtor - Buying or Selling an Owner-Built Home

Earlier this year the Homeowner Protection Office (HPO) released a revised Regulatory Bulletin on “Buying or Selling an Owner-Built Home.” Available on the HPO’s website, the newly updated bulletin is recommended reading for property owners building their own home, real estate licensees, legal professionals, notaries, lenders and home buyers. The bulletin clarifies the Registrar’s position on offering to sell an owner-built home prior to obtaining an Owner Builder Disclosure Notice. Licensees representing either owner builders or prospective home buyers may find this information useful prior to buying or selling ownerbuilt homes.

The bulletin includes information on:

• Occupancy and disclosure requirements for owner-built homes:
  An owner builder must occupy their new home themselves for at least one year after obtaining an occupancy permit and are not permitted to sell or rent the new home during that one-year period. Owner-built homes may not be sold within the first 10 years after occupancy without providing an Owner Builder Disclosure Notice to the prospective purchaser. The Disclosure Notice must be provided to prospective purchasers prior to entering into a Contract of Purchase and Sale. Disclosure notices can be obtained from the HPO and will not be released until the one-year occupancy requirement has been verified by the HPO.
• New Homes Registry:
  The easiest way to determine whether a home can be offered for sale is to search the HPO’s online New Homes Registry at www.hpo.bc.ca. New homes not found on the Registry or by calling the HPO should not be sold until verified by the HPO.
• Illegal Sales:
  Selling a home without providing prospective purchasers with an Owner Builder Disclosure Notice is an offence under the Homeowner Protection Act. This includes signing a Contract of Purchase and Sale without first providing an Owner Builder Disclosure Notice. Offering to sell or selling an owner-built home within 12 months after receiving an occupancy permit is also an offence under the Act.

This means that offering to sell an owner-built home for which an Owner Builder Disclosure Notice has not been issued is risky:

• If the seller has not met the minimum occupancy requirement they may be committing an offence by offering to sell too early.
• Even if an owner builder has met the 12-month occupancy requirement, if they list the home before receiving an Owner Builder Disclosure Notice, they may receive an offer to purchase without having provided an Owner Builder Disclosure Notice to the prospective purchaser as required by the Homeowner Protection Act. The offer may fall through while the owner waits for the Owner Builder Disclosure Notice from the HPO, or the owner may accept the offer prior to providing the Owner Builder Disclosure Notice, thereby committing an offence under the Act.

The Registrar strongly recommends obtaining an Owner Builder Disclosure Notice from the HPO before offering to sell an owner-built home. The Owner Builder Disclosure Notice confirms that the home may be offered for sale.

The Council will be reviewing the information for licensees in the Professional Standards Manualrelating to ownerbuilt homes to determine if any updates or revisions are required, and will advise licensees in due course of any changes.

www.mariamak.com