Home sellers hid foundation cracks with storage containers, buyers' lawsuit alleges

Vera-Lynn Kubinec · CBC News

· Posted: May 11, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

The buyers of a location successful Winnipeg person filed a suit claiming the location sellers deliberately hid accusation astir its cracked foundation, and that a location inspector did not pass them astir the occupation aft doing an inspection.

After taking possession of the location successful the summertime of 2023, the buyers discovered serious cracks successful the foundation, according to a connection of assertion filed May 1 successful Court of King's Bench astatine Winnipeg.

The buyers claim the anterior owners "had deliberately and strategically placed retention containers and a recycling instrumentality to fell 3 terrible cracks astatine the instauration adjacent to the garage," the suit says.

The homebuyers assertion the intent was "to fell the latent defects from view," the tribunal papers says.

It alleges the anterior owners had issued a spot disclosure connection falsely stating they were unaware of the cracks in the instauration of the Linden Woods home, which has an assessed worth of much than $500,000.

Once the buyers had possession of the home, they got a structural technologist to inspect the 3 cracks successful the foundation.

Based connected the engineer's report, the suit claims a instauration repair contractor estimated the outgo to hole the instauration would beryllium betwixt $40,000 and $50,000.

The buyers had made a conditional connection to acquisition the location and earlier finalizing the offer, they had a location inspection done by an inspector registered and certified by the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors, a self-regulated nonrecreational assemblage of location inspectors.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages from the location inspector for nonrecreational negligence, alleging helium failed to workout the diligence expected of a registered location inspector.

After discovering the alleged defects with the house, the suit says the plaintiffs contacted their existent property institution and the location inspector.

The location inspector aboriginal told the plaintiffs "that helium was blameless," arsenic the cracks "were hidden from presumption by the retention containers and recycling bin strategically placed successful beforehand of the defects," the suit says. 

The tribunal papers claims the retention and recycling containers successful the basement could easy person been moved by the location inspector, but helium did not.

As a result, the inspector failed to enactment the cracks successful the instauration and pass the plaintiffs astir them, the assertion says.

It says that if the plaintiffs had been advised of the cracks, they wouldn't person finalized their connection to acquisition the house.

No mandatory licensing for inspectors successful Manitoba

A concern subordinate of the location inspector is besides named arsenic a defendant, on with 2 companies the inspector worked with.

Contacted by CBC News, the location inspector declined to remark connected the case, arsenic did the plaintiff's lawyer.

The buyers are seeking an unspecified magnitude of damages from the 2 radical who antecedently owned the house.

The location sellers named arsenic defendants could not beryllium reached for comment.

The allegations person not been tested successful tribunal and the defendants person not filed statements of defence.

The Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors is simply a voluntary licensing programme for location inspectors crossed Canada, with 16 members successful Manitoba arsenic of May 2025. 

Manitoba does not person a mandatory provincial licensing program, but British Columbia and Alberta do.

Anne Stacey, CAHPI's enforcement director, said the relation would enactment licensing and regularisation of the assemblage by each provinces.

There person been nary complaints against Manitoba members since 2022, Stacey said.

B.C. became the archetypal state successful Canada to commencement regulating location inspectors successful 2009.

Complaints by consumers astir inspectors successful B.C. are rare, according to numbers from Consumer Protection BC, which operates the location inspector regularisation program.

With 458 licensed location inspectors successful B.C., determination person been 2 user ailment files opened truthful acold successful 2025, says Consumer Protection BC nationalist relations manager Louise Hartland. 

The regulator itself sometimes opens ailment files for infractions specified arsenic an inspector failing to transportation insurance, oregon not including due clauses successful their contracts.

B.C. had 20 files opened by the regulator successful 2023, and 7 files in 2024.