Buyers of a house in Winnipeg have filed a demand claiming that the house vendors deliberately hid information about their cracked basis, and that a housing inspector did not inform them about the problem after making an inspection.
After taking possession of the house in the summer of 2023, buyers discovered serious cracks at the Foundation, according to a claim statement filed on May 1 at the King Bank in Winnipeg.
Buyers claim that the previous owners “had deliberately and strategically and strategically storage containers a recycling container to hide three severe cracks in the base adjacent to the garage,” says the demand.
Housing buyers affirm that the intention was to “hide the latent defects of the view,” says the judicial document.
He alleges that the previous owners had issued a statement of property dissemination that falsely indicated that they were not aware of the cracks at the base of the house of Linden Woods, which has an evaluated value of more than $ 500,000.
Once the buyers had possession of the house, they obtained a structural engineer to inspect the three cracks at the Foundation.
According to the engineer’s report, the lawsuit states that a foundation repair contractor estimated that the cost of solving the foundation would be between $ 40,000 and $ 50,000.
Buyers had made a conditional offer to buy the house and before finishing the offer, an inspector registered and certified by the inspection of the house Canadian Association of Household and Properties InspectorsA self -regulated professional body of housing inspectors.
The plaintiffs seek damage to the housing inspector due to professional negligence, claiming that he could not exercise the expected diligence of a registered housing inspector.
After discovering the alleged defects with the Chamber, the demand says that the plaintiffs contacted their real estate company and the housing inspector.
Later, the inspector of the house told the plaintiffs “that he was without guilt”, like the cracks “were hidden in view of the storage containers and recycling of recycling placed strategically against defects,” says the demand.
The court document states that the storage and recycling containers in the basement could have been easily transferred by the inspector of the house, but did not.
As a result, the inspector did not observe the cracks in the foundation and warned the plaintiffs about them, according to the claim.
He says that if the plaintiffs had been informed of the cracks, they would not have completed their offer to buy the house.
There are no mandatory licenses for inspectors in Manitoba
A commercial partner of the housing inspector is also appointed accused, along with two companies that the inspector worked.
Contacted by CBC News, the inspector of the house declined to comment on the case, as well as the plaintiff’s lawyer.
Buyers are looking for an un specified amount of damage to the two people who previously owned the house.
The house vendors appointed as defendants could not be contacted to comment.
The accusations have not been tested in the Court and the defendants have not submitted defense statements.
The Canadian Association of Starting Inspectors and Properties is a voluntary license program for housing inspectors throughout Canada, with 16 members in Manitoba as of May 2025.
Manitoba does not have a mandatory provincial licenses program, but British Columbia and Alberta yes.
Anne Stacey, executive director of CAHPI, said the association would support the license and regulation of the profession for all provinces.
There have been no complaints against Manitoba members since 2022, said Stacey.
BC became the first province in Canada to start regulating the inspectors of origin in 2009.
Consumers’ complaints about BC inspectors are rare, according to BC consumer protection numbers, which operates the housing inspectors regulation program.
With 458 housing inspectors with a licensed BC, two consumption complaints files have been opened so far in 2025, says Public Relations Director of Consumer Protection BC Louise Hartland.
The regulator itself sometimes opens complaints for infractions, such as an inspector who does not carry insurance, or does not include the appropriate clauses in their contracts.
BC had 20 files open by the regulator in 2023 and seven files in 2024.
