ComplaintsforFidelity Group of Companies

• Initial Complaint

  22/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  In October of 2021 we purchased a new home from Fidelity homes, Colborne ont. and purchased a larger, premium lot, 45.5 ft of frontage (which was in the contract to purchase and signed by the builder), opposed to 32.5. During the pre inspection walk through, we advised Fidelity that the houses seemed very close. An email was sent to Fidelity to advise of the lot issue on November 1st 2021. We closed on November 4Th 2021. Subsequent to closing, we requested our lawyer to investigate our concern. He advised that the survey and registration both indicated frontage of 32.5 feet...a standard lot. Our lawyer sent Fidelity a letter stating these facts. A reply letter from their lawyer stated that this discrepancy should have been addressed prior to closing and we were not going to receive any compensation. It was at this point our Lawyer advised he would no longer handle this case. The company has refused to discuss the situation, Litigation is (of course) a possibility, but is very costly and there is a chance of losing, even with a "slam dunk" case. We are seniors, living on a fixed income, and couldn't afford to pay $15 to 20 K for nothing. Further legal advise was to sue our Lawyer, which again is problematic. We have nowhere else to turn and hope you can assist us in getting a refund of at least, the extra monies paid for a premium lot. Thank you, ******** and **** ******

  Business response

  29/06/2022

  To Whom it May Concern:

  
  I appreciate the opportunity to provide a response to the issues that our client has brought forward to the ***.

  
  *** ******** **** *** ******** *********** was approached by ***** and **** ****** a couple of years ago about a custom build. *** spent several hours with them as they worked through the prospect of a custom build opportunity on a large 12 acre parcel of land. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, the ******’s opted to decline that opportunity. Following this, they hired the services of a realtor and did purchase property (which they now live at) in our Foxtail Ridge Subdivision here in Colborne. They watched closely as the home was built, even stopping by the site and texting *** messages indicating their pleasure with the progress and the quality of the build (Text Ref: July 28, 2021). At no time prior to closing this home was anything brought up about the size and appearance of the lot. I believe it wasn’t until after moving into their house that the property did not meet their expectations. They hired a lawyer and sent Fidelity Homes Inc.’s lawyer a letter indicating their displeasure with the lot frontage and size and made it clear they were looking for compensation. They stated they were misled and noted that the lot was undersized from the 45ft that was noted on the agreement of purchase and sale, to approximately 33ft in actual fact. Please note: It is common in subdivisions for cul de sac lots like theirs to have a reduced curbside frontage due to the small radius at the curb, as often ***es lot frontages for agreements of purchase and sale are measured from wider points on site plans. Our Agreement of Purchase and Sale allows for this variation in size and the lot is still considered a 45ft wide lot by the Township of Cramahe Zoning. The site plan, which can be provided, was approved by Municipal engineers and peer reviewers alike. In no way was Fidelity Homes trying to take advantage of senior citizens, as portrayed by the ******’s in their complaint.

  
  Fidelity Homes Inc. is happy to provide our lawyer’s response letter if necessary to the ***. The general summary of the letter is that the ******’s financially closed the home knowing the lot size and space they would have. They also signed an agreement of purchase and sale which allows for variation of lot sizing. They argue that they received a smaller lot than they agreed to, however, if we were to use the Agreement of Purchase and Sale verba***, they were to receive a lot with an area of 4691 square feet (45.5’x102.2’). The current survey of their property shows an actual square footage of 8708sf, this is an increase of over 185% over what the Agreement of Purchase and Sale indicated.

  
  Following our response, we understand their lawyer did not want to continue with their file, which we assume is because they were advised they were not in a strong position to argue this matter. Clearly, they are foregoing the legal channel and it now appears as though they are trying to tarnish our reputation through the ***, which we are saddened by.

  I’d like to say that we still have no problem with the ******’s and have enjoyed working with them. During the process, unrelated to the matter above, we provided several value added and complimentary services to them. I’d like to share some of them, as I think it helps set the stage for the type of service we’ve provided to them, and the type of business we are.

  
  Items provided to the ******’s at no additional cost include, but are not limited to; custom (3 step stain) stain on their railing and stairs to match hardwood flooring, complimentary duct cleaning, complimentary exterior cleaning, significant floorplan/layout alteration with no administration or architectural fee adjustments,  and upgraded wide format foyer 24”x24” tile (they initially paid for 12”x24” tile but wanted the larger 24”x24”). We also included undermount vanity sinks in bathrooms at no additional cost to them and did not charge for any administrative fee’s (as per our APS) for changes made after final sign-off on selections. We also provided them with an additional bank of drawers in their ensuite at no additional cost and upgraded their kitchen hardware (handles) at no extra cost.

  
  In summary, we continue to believe the ******’s have one of the nicest houses on one of the nicest lots in our subdivision and that *** ********, Fidelity Homes Inc. and others here within the company have done nothing but try to please the ******’s in every possible way. We have certainly done nothing to warrant a letter from their lawyer, nor a written complaint to the ***. It saddens us to see this behaviour, but we can assure the *** that we are not a firm that deserves a public blemish on our record as a result of this complaint.
  
  
  Sincerely, 
  
  
  ***** ******* ******* ******* of Fidelity Homes Inc.
  
  ...

  Customer response

  06/07/2022

  
  ********** ********
  Mr. ******,
  
  Thank you for your response to the *** dated June 29, 2022.
  
  I would like to point out some facts pertaining to this situation:
  
  - We did obtain a quote from *** ******* for a custom home on 12 acres. Unfortunately, it was not in our price range. Subsequently, we purchased a subdivision house specifying in the offer of purchase a larger lot of 45.5 foot frontage which would allow us access to the back yard where we planned to store our boat. This offer of purchase was approved by Fidelity.
  
  We did in fact watch the construction of the house as best we could, considering that we lived in Brome Lake Quebec, a 5 hour drive.
  
  Our issue is not with the house but the reduced size of the lot. 
  
  I would like to correct some inaccuracies in your response:
  
  - You stated « at no ***e prior to closing, was anything brought up regarding the size and appearance of the lot » . We have several emails and texts requesting 
  
  confirmation of dimensions, particularly the frontage.
  
  Prior to closing on November 1st, 2021 we questioned the frontage on an email to ******* *******. Copy of this email is available. 
  The closing was November 4th, 2021. 
  Our concerns were never addressed. It has never been explained and we were never notified by Fidelity why we have 32.2 feet frontage opposed to 45.5  (see lot registration and survey . part one plan 39R-142081/curve C34.
  
  - You state that the agreement of purchase and sale allows for variations and that measurements can be made from a wider point. The point at which the lot is 45.5 feet wide intersects with our front porch . This would mean there was zero feet on the front set back. Please note I agree that curbside frontage and lot frontage are not the same. My measurements are based on lot frontage as per contract.
  
  - You implied that we hired a lawyer in an attempt to obtain compensation. In fact ****** ******* was the lawyer used to close and therefore, obviously, we questioned him regarding the lot size discrepancy. You stated that our behaviour saddens you, in turn, I hope you realize how sad I was when I determined that 12 feet of our frontage has disappeared.
  
  - You assumed ****** ******* did not continue with our file as we were not in a strong legal position. This in incorrect. In fact he was concerned about a potential conflict of interest. 
  
  The very first text sent to *** ******** states « Hi ***, I assumed you are aware of our issues, we would rather resolve this face to face opposed to using lawyer which would only increase the cost ». His response was « leave it in the hands of the lawyers ».
  
  - You mentioned that we received several value added and complimentary services.
  
  We were very appreciative, as well as our neighbours of the complimentary services we all received, such as duct cleaning and exterior cleaning. Please note that we paid Fidelity $98,848.78 for all the upgrades in the house.
  
  We again on May 20, 2022  asked for a meeting with Fidelity to discuss the frontage discrepancy.
  
  As we never received a response to our concerns, we filed a complaint with the ***.
  
  It was not intended to publicly blemish Fidelity’s reputation.
  
  It is important to mention that we are very happy with the house but very disappointed that our frontage is not as per our contract with Fidelity.
  
  Attached is a copy the registered plan of subdivison and a letter from ***** ******, ***** agent stating her opinion in this matter.
  
  ***** and **** ******
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******** ******

  Business response

  06/07/2022

   

   

  
  hello,
  I just want to ensure you have received our response to complaint no ******** sent to you today on your website.
  We omitted to attach the PDF files with our response. See attached files.
  Thank you.
  ***** ******

   

  
  
  Sent from my iPad

  Business response

  11/07/2022

  ***** ***** ****** ************************** ***** ******* **** *** **** **** ** *** ***** ******* ********************** *** *** ******** **************************** ******** *** ********* ******** ****** *** **** *******

   

  Good afternoon,

   

  I have prepared a letter for your review in response to complaint ********. Additional information was necessary as per your recent communication. I hope the provided information helps to further clarify the situation at hand.

   

  Please confirm receipt.

   

  With thanks,

   

   

   

  ***** ****** ******* *******

  Fidelity Homes Inc.

  * ************ * ************************ W www.fidelitygroup.ca 

   

  

   

  CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email is intended only for the person(s) named in the message header. Unless otherwise indicated, it contains information that is confidential, privileged and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender of the error and delete the message.

   

  Customer response

  18/07/2022

  
  ********** ********
  
  I am rejecting part of this  response because:

  
  

  ?To whom it may concern:

  The following are our comments to Mr. ******’s letter received on 

  - You continue to state “we hired our lawyer to obtain some form of compensation 

   ( it does not make sense otherwise).

  Please note that our lawyer, ****** *******, who was hired to close the purchase of the property, advised us that upon reviewing the survey/lot registration, he determined we did not have a frontage of 45.5 foot wide but 32.6, a standard lot. 

  Mr. ******* then addressed the issue. Furthermore on November 1, 2021 we expressed our concerns in writing regarding the proximity of the houses on an email sent to ******* ******* from Fidelity.  Our concerns were therefore addressed to Fidelity before closing on November 4th 2021. The survey of the property was also requested on several occasions from Fidelity as well from the Surveyor.

  A proper explanation would have resolved the issue several months ago.

  
  

  - Restrictive covenants section 4 figure 1 .

  Please read starting at the word except “ except where same is fully enclosed in a garage attached to a dwelling or PARKED TO THE REAR OF THE DWELLING”.

  This specific paragraph was discussed with our lawyer, ****** ******* before closing and he agreed that parking our boat in the backyard was allowed.

  Thank you to Mr. ****** for the detailed explanation on how exactly the frontage of a lot in a cul de sac is measured. We should have specified at the ***e of purchase that we wanted an increased frontage at the “curb”. We certainly did not know these specifics. 

  Unfortunately, at this stage of our lives, we now find ourselves in a situation where we did not receive what we anticipated, and at the age we both are, moving on is very difficult. 

  We are therefore withdrawing our complain from the ****** ******** ****** but suggest that better explanation be given to future purchasers in cul-de-sac property.

  ***** ******

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Sent from my iPad

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******** ******

  Business response

  20/07/2022

  Thank you for your response,

   

  We have taken additional steps to ensure our realtors continue to educate buyers and their realtors about how cul de sac lots are measured and marked.

   

  With respect,

   

  *****

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