Reidbuilt in financial trouble

[fishtank]

saw it in the newspaper that they are in finiancial trouble , i also know a couple that put down $50K for their new home last year but now they are in this same situation as mention in the papers

Jay Fleet and his wife put up inheritance and cash they saved over several years for a more than $25,000 deposit on their “dream home” in Airdrie.

Earlier this month, Fleet said he received a call from ReidBuilt informing him construction on the home was on hold for about two months due to the pending sale, with assurances his deposit was protected by warranty.

Fleet said he called ReidBuilt’s home warranty insurance provider, which told him it had no record of warranty coverage for his home. He worries that if the financially troubled homebuilder closes its doors, his family will lose their precious savings.

“Unless ReidBuilt gets the money protected, there’s nothing that can be done,” Fleet said. “It will cost too much to go after them with a lawyer.”

[grouse_hunter]

After the original owner passed away, too many hands got into the cookie jar. A waste of a legacy...

[wildwoods]

Hmmmm sorry to hear. Hope all the contractors get their money and homeowners get deposits back. Never a fun situation.

[Newview01]

Originally Posted by wildwoods

Hmmmm sorry to hear. Hope all the contractors get their money and homeowners get deposits back. Never a fun situation.

History says good luck.

[mmhmmmm]

Just ran into a sub trade the other day that got axed by Reid built and I didn't think much of it. Unfortunate situation. Hopefully they make sure those deposits get back, that is a greasy move from such a well known builder. IMO


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[srs123]

Unfortunately lawyers cost wat too much and this is why they are going to be obselete in a few years. ( a discussion for another day). My dad went through the same with a 150k deposit when all said and done with the courts he got his mony back but the lawyer fees were about 70k over 3 years

In the case of reid built, people should organize and launch a class action lawsuit together with one law firm to cut costs and intimidate them into settling

[srs123]

Copied from one of the comments . Wow this is scary

With this move Reidbuilt screwed those who built with them within last year. Warranty issues are going to be pain to deal with, even though basic warranty is covered by ANHW.
Plus whoever got possession within last 45 days got their properties Liened by contractors. Best case scenario contractors won't drag homeowners into courts to get paid, worst case scenario homeowners will deal with court cases even though they paid full amount to Reidbuilt.
Shame on Reidbuilt that they took all the money they got paid for the houses they sold and pocketed it all rather than paying those who actually built the houses.

[densa44]

If you hold your breath until lawyers disappear you will be badly cyanosed before they are gone. I believe that they are the world's second oldest profession.

You can take steps trough small claims court to get on the list of creditors.

[srs123]

Originally Posted by densa44

If you hold your breath until lawyers disappear you will be badly cyanosed before they are gone. I believe that they are the world's second oldest profession.

You can take steps trough small claims court to get on the list of creditors.

I said thats a discussion for another day so all im going to say is that many things are getting streamlined and dont require a lawyer. Like home title tranfers can be handled by a smart person who is willing to fill out standard contracts and pay for an online law office like legal zoom to check it

[morinj]

Originally Posted by fishtank

saw it in the newspaper that they are in finiancial trouble , i also know a couple that put down $50K for their new home last year but now they are in this same situation as mention in the papers

I hope your friends get their money back!

[wildwoods]

Originally Posted by densa44

If you hold your breath until lawyers disappear you will be badly cyanosed before they are gone. I believe that they are the world's second oldest profession.

You can take steps trough small claims court to get on the list of creditors.

Builders lien act is through Queens Bench. You cannot go small claims with it. Unless I've completely missed something all these years...

[diamond k]

This is not the first time this has happened with Reid Built

Real shame that the Alberta Govt put in all of these protectionist measure to help the poor unsuspecting home owners that ultimately drove most of the small craftsmen builders who took pride in there homes out of business.
New home warranty was a farce that provides almost no protection for homeowners so the big builders can maintain a monopoly.

The customers in this case could have a legitimate claim as by law once a deposit is taken it is required to have been registered but as said being right and getting restitution is 2 totally separate things

[sns2]

I went to school with the family. The father turned over operations to son-in-law, a lawyer, many years ago. Trust me, his behind is covered. I feel for the homeowners. What a nightmare.

[tchammer]

Originally Posted by diamond k

This is not the first time this has happened with Reid Built

Real shame that the Alberta Govt put in all of these protectionist measure to help the poor unsuspecting home owners that ultimately drove most of the small craftsmen builders who took pride in there homes out of business.
New home warranty was a farce that provides almost no protection for homeowners so the big builders can maintain a monopoly.

The customers in this case could have a legitimate claim as by law once a deposit is taken it is required to have been registered but as said being right and getting restitution is 2 totally separate things

Hit the nail on the head. We have a local startup competitor in town, good young guy, family, journeyman carpenter, proven worker. He has probably put $100,000 into his business already getting going, but will not be in the position to pay the Graft for home warranty, so will likely not be able to build a home for many years. So in a small town market he has to survive on renovations and shops and is completely shut out of new housing. Way to initiate small business growth government of Alberta.

[CaberTosser]

I read an article where Reidbuilt has sent a letter to their trades requesting that they finish the homes under construction because then with finished homes to be sold everyone stands a better chance of getting paid more. What an obtuse request, it had to be suggested by a Millenial: "You're probably either not getting paid at all or something in the area of 25 cents on the dollar, so please expose yourself to a greater loss in both finances and time so that we can pay people other than yourself, notably the person who wrote this request letter and some executives who mismanaged Reidbuilt into the ground. Those executives need to get new golf clubs for Pete's sake. Think of the children!"

I hope every trade gets their liens placed in a timely fashion and I feel for the buyers.

[ReconWilly]

Maybe Trublow can bail them out at the tax payers expense?

[philintheblank]

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

I read an article where Reidbuilt has sent a letter to their trades requesting that they finish the homes under construction because then with finished homes to be sold everyone stands a better chance of getting paid more. What an obtuse request, it had to be suggested by a Millenial: "You're probably either not getting paid at all or something in the area of 25 cents on the dollar, so please expose yourself to a greater loss in both finances and time so that we can pay people other than yourself, notably the person who wrote this request letter and some executives who mismanaged Reidbuilt into the ground. Those executives need to get new golf clubs for Pete's sake. Think of the children!"

I hope every trade gets their liens placed in a timely fashion and I feel for the buyers.

Your comment holds true except for the millennial part. Grease balls come in all forms, not sure what being a millennial has to do with anything.

[Big Grey Wolf]

It will be a sad case for the people that payed deposit and homes not built. They will be behind the secured creditors like banks that will take most of the remaining spoils. Sorry to say similar situation to the Sears employees, way behind in settlement for remaining $$.

[CMichaud]

You would think the liens would be placed against the personal homes and assets of the company owners or BO

The owners of Reid are probably living in nice houses with all the toys.

[lmtada]

Originally Posted by Newview01

History says good luck.

X2. Good luck.

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by philintheblank

Your comment holds true except for the millennial part. Grease balls come in all forms, not sure what being a millennial has to do with anything.

Not all Millennial's are self-entitled twits with little grasp on reality (never been without, undeserved self-confidence from participation awards, total emotional meltdown over minor inconveniences, etc) but enough are for the phrase to have developed that interpretation. I didn't invent the vernacular, I merely recognize its application. That being said you are correct that the greaseballs might be of any age. My guess was due to the twisted 'logic' of the article I read in what the emails/letters stated, it had millennial fingerprints all over it. I'm paraphrasing here: "We're not paying you now and probably won't ever, but please keep working so that there's money for my own paycheque"


To me the term 'millennial' refers to the weak among the herd in that age group rather than to the entire age group.

[Okotokian]

Originally Posted by tchammer

Hit the nail on the head. We have a local startup competitor in town, good young guy, family, journeyman carpenter, proven worker. He has probably put $100,000 into his business already getting going, but will not be in the position to pay the Graft for home warranty, so will likely not be able to build a home for many years. So in a small town market he has to survive on renovations and shops and is completely shut out of new housing. Way to initiate small business growth government of Alberta.

You know the other "protection" that needs to be eliminated? The ability of tradesmen to put a lien on a home that has already been paid for. As a purchaser I have no contractual arrangement with some framer who worked for, say, Reidbuilt. I had a contract with Reidbuilt and paid them in full. Any contractors should go after Reidbuilt. With Sears closing, will clerks who didn't get their full pay be able to put a lien on your Kenmore oven. No. Put tradesmen on the same footing as any other business or employee.

[ATF]

Reidbuilt was slimy from the get go. Built with them in 1988 and had to go to the government and threaten legal action to get them to do what they claimed was all part of their package.
Their stance back then was if you don't like it we'll give you your money back.
Nice of them except that we would have been 6 months longer without a house and would have had to fork out another 20 grand to get a similar one because of price increases.
I could never understand how they stayed in business all those years but I guess people put up with a lot.

[wildwoods]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

You know the other "protection" that needs to be eliminated? The ability of tradesmen to put a lien on a home that has already been paid for. As a purchaser I have no contractual arrangement with some framer who worked for, say, Reidbuilt. I had a contract with Reidbuilt and paid them in full. Any contractors should go after Reidbuilt. With Sears closing, will clerks who didn't get their full pay be able to put a lien on your Kenmore oven. No. Put tradesmen on the same footing as any other business or employee.

It's already eliminated. You just have to know a handful of things.
For starters, having the builder sign a statutory declaration saying trades have been paid would shift the blame to the builder (sworn afadavit basically).
Trust me. Us trades have our hands full enough collecting from delinquent GC's. We don't need any more rights stripped.

[tchammer]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

You know the other "protection" that needs to be eliminated? The ability of tradesmen to put a lien on a home that has already been paid for. As a purchaser I have no contractual arrangement with some framer who worked for, say, Reidbuilt. I had a contract with Reidbuilt and paid them in full. Any contractors should go after Reidbuilt. With Sears closing, will clerks who didn't get their full pay be able to put a lien on your Kenmore oven. No. Put tradesmen on the same footing as any other business or employee.

Couldn't agree with you more, if you are acting as general contractor, the buck should stop with you. If a client has a problem with anything, I should be the one to deal with it. We also run employees vs "subtrade contractors". It is more risk and responsibility on us, but my way of thinking is that if a "sub" is essentially acting as an employee, they should be entitled to the safety nets that are in place for employees, ie: CPP, EI, WCB and holiday pay. Though I have to admit when an employee screws up and costs us money and then just sits there with a look on his face I do wish I could pass along a little of the economic hurt so it will sink in to think a bit more!

[CaberTosser]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

You know the other "protection" that needs to be eliminated? The ability of tradesmen to put a lien on a home that has already been paid for. As a purchaser I have no contractual arrangement with some framer who worked for, say, Reidbuilt. I had a contract with Reidbuilt and paid them in full. Any contractors should go after Reidbuilt. With Sears closing, will clerks who didn't get their full pay be able to put a lien on your Kenmore oven. No. Put tradesmen on the same footing as any other business or employee.

Then what would be that tradespersons security aside from requiring payment up front? The builder cannot legally sell the home without all liens and encumberances on it being paid. That's clearly the builders issue, not Joe Hammer-swinger the framer. If they sold the place and didn't pay the liens on it then seize and auction their personal assets until all debts are cleared. If a diner in a restaurant has a meal of steak, salad, wine and dessert and they paid their server they should not expect a bill collecter from the restaurants wine or steak wholesaler to visit them. The builder/restaurant must pay their suppliers. Period.

[Don K]

We are finishing a house right now for a family that basically was left in the same situation as these people are all in. It was one of 5 that Cenova Homes left as they became 'financially unable' to pay their trades on. What a mess...

We managed to get new home warranty on it again, get all inspection up to date and got the ball rolling in the right direction for them again. Unfortunately they overpaid him for the work that was completed (by about $50k) and there's been over $100k in liens against it. Brutal situation for all parties involved except the slimeball who walked with everyone's money.

I feel for all these peoples who's lives will be very adversely affected.

Don

[Kim473]

I really feel for the people that may / probably lose there deposits. It sucks that our gov wont protect the average consumer by changing a couple of laws. The USA and UK. have protection for them, somewhat.

[normstad]

Reid Home is done, owes $65 million to the Royal Bank

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmont...385322?cmp=rss

[ESOXangler]

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