The celebrity contractor claims his company did not have access to the homes during construction.
For the first time, Mike Holmes has spoken publicly about a lawsuit that alleges the homes in the Holmes Approved Homes complex in Meaford, Ontario, were built with defects.
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The celebrity contractor and popular TV host posted the statement on his Facebook page four days after CBC News reported an update on the lawsuit . The lawsuit was filed in 2021 by Tarion, a consumer advocacy organization for new homes in Ontario.
Holmes said he was “deeply disappointed” by “news reports” about the lawsuit and that “only some” of the statements his company, Holmes Group, provided to the media “were used, and even those were taken out of context.”
Holmes stated that his company did not have access to the homes in the complex during construction, so it was unable to “assist in inspecting or identifying potential problems.”
Holmes also stated that he continues to be proud of his record and that he and his company “will not stop in our mission to help homeowners do the right thing.”
Tarion’s $8 million lawsuit is against the Holmes Group and more than a dozen other parties involved in a development called TerraceWood. The lawsuit alleges that between 2015 and 2019, 14 TerraceWood homes were built with defects, including serious structural problems.
Tarion says builder Third Line Homes failed to fix the defects, so Tarion paid for all repairs.
Tarion recently decided that demolishing three houses was a more sensible option. Two have already been demolished.
In its lawsuit, Tarion alleges that Holmes Group failed to perform additional inspections of the homes for the homeowners who ordered them and portrayed the builder, Third Line Homes, as competent.
In his post, Holmes said he and Holmes Group “do not deny that we advertised our inspection services” to homebuyers. However, he said the company did not inspect TerraceWood homes because no one bought the Holmes Approved Homes inspection package.
Holmes did not explicitly respond to details in the CBC News report about his support for Holmes Approved Homes in advertising and the involvement of two of his other companies. One of those companies bought and then sold a TerraceWood home with alleged defects, and the other lent money to Third Line Homes through a private mortgage.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
