Ontario’s Home Construction Regulatory Authority (HCRA) has laid a set of charges against companies (seven in total) operating under Vaughan-based Stateview Homes. The regulator says that the charges are in connection to the “illegal sale of 453 homes” and that senior leaders of the company — Dino Taurasi, Carlo Taurasi, and Daniel Ciccone — “have also been charged for failing to take reasonable care to prevent these violations.”
According to a press release from Tuesday, “the charges follow an HCRA investigation that uncovered hundreds of violations of the New Home Construction Licensing Act, 2017 and the Ontario New Home Warranties Plan Act,” and “include selling dozens of homes while unlicensed and failing to obtain the required Tarion approvals or enrolments in Ontario’s new home warranty program for hundreds of homes, even after becoming licensed.”
“To legally sell new homes in Ontario, builders must be licensed by the HCRA, obtain Tarion authorization, and enrol each home in the warranty program,” said HCRA Chief Executive Officer and Registrar Wendy Moir in a press release. “Compliance with all regulatory requirements is not optional. Builders who do not meet these obligations are operating illegally, and the HCRA will take strong enforcement action.”
For some background, the HCRA suspended Stateview’s licences back in July 2023 ”to immediately protect consumers from further risk.” After that, an investigation was conducted and revealed that Stateview’s operations were tied up in significant financial harm.
Reporting from STOREYS has shown that five receivership applications regarding eight projects were previously filed by four creditors, and that receiverships were granted in May. In June, the Ontario courts granted permissions for the sales process for various assets of Stateview, citing at that time that the developer owed approximately $350 million to various creditors.
“Ontario homebuyers deserve confidence that their builder is acting in good faith and complying with the law,” said Moir. “When builders fail to meet their legal obligations, the HCRA will take every necessary step to hold them accountable, protect consumers, and maintain confidence in the new home marketplace.”
