Despite David Herman's claims (Letters to the Editor, REM, September), the B.C. Real Estate Association -‑ at the epicentre of Canada's worst housing disaster –  has offered little assistance to their own members or B.C. home buyers in dealing with leaky condos.

A lot of water has passed through building envelopes since the B.C. Real Estate Association released their last leaky condo position paper in March 2001, the last leaky condo news release in April 2001 and the last leaky condo brief presented to MLAs in April 2000. (See  www.bcrea.bc.ca). Their continuing education courses deal with strata property law, which is not the same as learning how to identify buildings in the throes of building envelope failure.

The losses to homeowners caused by having 65,000 leaky condos in our housing stock has been exacerbated by the re‑sale of these units – often without full disclosure of the problem to the buyer. My study (Re‑Sale of Leaky Condos: Did the Buyer Know) sought to understand how it happens that despite all the disclosures, investigations, reports etc. involved in the sale of a condo, a buyer may not know the truth about the condition of the property.

The Errors and Omissions Insurance Corporation (for the B.C. real estate industry) published statistics show that claims against real estate licensees for misrepresentation with respect to leaky condos has been a serious issue for a number of years. A clear understanding of how this is happening is the first step toward finding solutions.

Mr. Herman, I challenge you to cut the bafflegab and focus the energies of the B.C. Real Estate Association on finding solutions to ensure transparency in leaky condo transactions. 

Nancy Bain

Author of Re‑Sale of Leaky Condos: Did the Buyer Know

Burnaby, B.C.