Dang! I have friends in Canada and I think of Canadians being so much more gentile and honest than Americans. But then, I seem to be selling a lot of books in Ontario so maybe I’m wrong.
But one of the biggest thefts I’ve read about is a 4.1 million dollar embezzlement from a condo association in that Province. A man who managed 13 condominium operations in Hamilton and Burlington just swiped a little at a time from each one of them over five years. That’s almost a million bucks a year. Not bad work if you can get it.
A founder of the Condo Owners Association used a couple of interesting phrases: “downright ridiculous” and “a disaster zone.” When asked if HOA fraud was rare, her response was, “No, no, no, no, no, no!” And she says laws in the Province to protect condo owners is non-existent.
Canadians often seem much more polite than Americans, but the BBC documentary linked below is one that everyone on this blog should watch. Downtown Toronto has been devastated by defective construction in many of its high-rise condo towers. The U.S. government is following the exact same political path as the governments of Toronto and of Canada have been following over the past seven years.
With the inevitable world financial collapse that’s coming, many building shortcuts are going to be overlooked in the U.S.. Massive construction projects will be seen by our government as an escape valve against the housing market bubble. Thousands of people in rapidly expanding financial markets like China and Dubai will be buying newly built American condos without ever making a personal visit or inspection. And American building inspectors will be ordered by their bosses to overlook common sense building regulations.
This blog is all about protecting you. My guest bloggers put a lot of work into researching and writing about certain subjects to protect you, the homeowner. But believe me, we’re getting pressure from the CAI cacophony and the realty folks and property managers. We make no money on this blog by encouraging our followers to be cautious in their investing.
