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| COLCO: Coalition of Leaky Condo Owners www.myleakycondo.com
P.O. Box 16041, New Westminster, B.C., V3M 6W6 Canada Telephone 604-739-4190 Fax 604-739-4109 COLCO INFO BULLETIN 2001.07.17 - (For Immediate Release) Research reveals leaky condos across CanadaBC owners call for justice and compensation(Vancouver, Canada) Leaks, rot and mould have damaged tens of thousands of leaky condos in British Columbia and other buildings across Canada, according to COLCO, The Coalition of Leaky Condo Owners.COLCO’s research has found leaky rotten condos and other residential buildings from Victoria, British Columbia, to St. John’s, Newfoundland. “The common cause of leaks, rot and mould can be traced to inadequate design, defective construction and multiple building code violations,” according to Dr. James Balderson, spokesman for COLCO. “The problems with these leaky homes are clearly not caused by the purchasers.” “Our own conclusions about leaky condos in British Columbia are bolstered by research reported by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC),” said COLCO spokesman James Balderson. In British Columbia alone, COLCO has already identified more than 1,050 leaky rotten condo and co-op complexes containing about 50,000 homes. COLCO’s Leaky Rotten Condo List #7 can be found at
COLCO is preparing Leaky Rotten Condo List #8 for release in the Fall. COLCO estimates the total cost to repair B.C.’s leaky rotten mouldy multiple-family and single-family buildings may exceed $2 billion. “Our research clearly shows that developers, architects and builders have failed to provide us with safe, warm and dry homes. “We’ve been swindled by an unethical housing industry which promised high quality homes but delivered leaks, rot, mould and misery. “Our evidence shows that the Barrett Commission severely underestimated the full scope of the problem. Furthermore, the former NDP government failed to provide adequate relief for all the victims. “The municipal, provincial and federal governments collected a lot of revenue because these leaky condos were built and sold to us. And now they’re collecting more in taxes and fees because we must repair them. “Now it’s up to the Campbell and Chretien Liberals to provide us with 100% compensation for this incredible catastrophe in British Columbia. “If the politicians can find billions of dollars in federal and provincial tax cuts, they can find a billion or two to help the victims of leaky rotten condos. “We want justice and compensation, but please don’t try negating the disaster by labeling it a bailout,” Balderson said. Balderson said COLCO conducts its own research and also uses CMHC’s extensive library of research projects addressing problems in leaky rotten mouldy residential buildings across Canada: www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca For starters, Balderson points to the following examples of easy-to-read
CMHC case studies about leaky homes across Canada found at:
New Westminster, British Columbia
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Brockville, Ontario
Markham, Ontario
Nepean, Ontario
North York, Ontario
Ottawa, Ontario (1)
Ottawa, Ontario (2)
Timmins, Ontario
Waterloo, Ontario
Montreal, Quebec
St. John’s Newfoundland
For more information about COLCO’s research contact: Dr. James Balderson, B.Ed., M.Ed., Ph.D., Q.S., MCOLCO Email James.Balderson@myleakycondo.com
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