Left with major repairs, Saint-Jerome condo owners accuse builder of cutting corners

Condo owners worried they'll lose everything Condo owners in St-Jerome are worried they’ll lose everything after they say the builder cut corners, leaving them with huge repair bills.

Condo owners in St-Jerome are worried they’ll lose everything after they say the builder cut corners, leaving them with massive repair bills.

"It doesn’t feel that good," said Claude Beauvais, one of the presidents of the condo association.

He bought one of the 48 condos in the Laurentians two years ago. Last year, while doing work on the balconies at the three adjacent buildings, a contractor discovered major issues with water infiltration that was making them unsafe.

"The fire department came here and at first told us to get out of the buildings in the next couple of hours," said Beauvais.

An engineer made a temporary fix, but then discovered more problems.

"We found out that everything that was built, nothing was up to the norms," he said.

The condo owners allege the three buildings on Castonguay Street were cheaply built back in 1993. They tried to go after the builders.

"One is dead, the other is bankrupt, and the other one we’re still looking for," said Beauvais.

It means owners like Laurie Favron — who purchased her condo last year for $190,000 — will have shell out a lot more money.

"Best-case scenario, $166,000 per co-owner, worse case we’re up at $209,000," she said.

So far, insurance won’t pay, claiming it wasn’t caused by a fire or natural disaster.

They appealed to the city of St-Jerome but so far they have received no help.

Phillipe Richard Bertrand, whose mother lives there, said he can’t believe what’s going on.

"The city issued a permit. If they didn’t inspect, that’s their problem. They should have inspected, they sold the permit. There was a transaction there," he said.

"No one wants to help us."