Advice for people stuck with part of development charge in their closing cost

Wow, that was one long title.  I’ve been on 5 hours sleep for a long time, so bear with me.

I had a very long post figured out that talked about the issue from Halton’s point of view, Mattamy’s point of view and my opinion of what was going on.  I think it got detailed enough that the main point got lost.  So I decided not to post that.

Here’s a very brief summary of the conclusion that post reached:

• I spoke with many people and the charge / tax / levy / fee is here to stay.  If you’re hit with it then you can protest to the Regional Council all you like, but it’s likely not going to help: either the Council is evil and out to get new home buyers in which case they won’t care or they are genuinely concerned about the shortfall and this is really needed to fund new growth, in which case it’s needed and won’t go away.  You can see the webcast of the meeting where the Councillors voted on the issue. I don’t think anything was left unsaid [if you are talking to a Councillor then it helps to find out who your Councillor is.  It seems like people are all talking to a single Councillor].
• So the best option is to talk to Mattamy.  Notice i said talk.  Some people said they were thinking about legal actions.  I don’t see how that would possibly help.  If anything, it will likely cost you a lot more than it’s worth.
• I was asked what I would’ve done.  I talked to five Town Councillors to really understand the Nassagewaya Tennis Club funding justification.  And that did not even directly impact me.  Those who know me well know that if I got hit with it, I’d be outside Mattamy’s sales office the very next day with posters and banners, distributing flyers to all potential home buyer, telling them how Mattamy screwed it’s home purchasers.  I would have called every media outlet telling them about protests outside Mattamy’s sales office. I would do it until they reduced the charge. I am not necessarily recommending you do this, just saying this is what I would have done. 
• If I had a lawyer who did not cap the cost for me then I would certainly get that lawyer to at least do my closing for free (that’s close to $1,000 saving right there). Capping the cost is a very standard thing and any lawyer who did not recommend the cap may have done a disservice.
• Here’s what I think people should do:
  • First, get organized and get together.  There’s power in collective bargaining (oh where have I heard this term before :)
  • Find out from your lawyer if Mattamy can pass this charge.  Rest of the points assume that they can.
  • Number of people hit with the increase who did not cap their charge is fairly small.  Mattamy may be willing to reduce it since in the greater scheme of things, it’s not a huge cost to them.  Mattamy, like any other company, is looking at the cost-benefit analysis.  Giving you guys a break costs Mattamy money. You just have to make sure that the benefit they get from it saves them money or gives them goodwill that makes it worth it. I will leave it to your imagination* to figure out how to do that (just don’t get too creative).  At least try to convince Mattamy to meet you half way
  • Once you and Mattamy have agreed on the charge that you will pay, convince them to redo the Purchase & Sales agreement to reflect the additional cost in price so it is easier to finance. An additional $5,000 mortgage (especially in this interest rate environment) will likely cost $25 / month or so.  It’s money, but not the end of the world especially considering people buying now are paying the higher price any way. 

It’s a painful situation but if you can reduce the cost to less than $20 / month, then while it will still suck, it will hurt a lot less.  People were talking about refusing to close or other drastic actions.  I would highly discourage you from going down that route.  You won’t win it. 

Good luck!  I’ll post more as I get more info.