Some would-be homebuyers have filed lawsuits against a developer that backed out of pre-sale agreements to sell them homes in the Riverbend housing development in Coquitlam.

CB Developments is returning the deposits paid as long as two years ago by the buyers of the 32 detached homes.

Some buyers who put their deposits down up to two years ago for homes at Riverbend are suing the developer.
(CBC)

The company told them in a letter last week it was breaking their contracts because of construction delays and cost overruns, and it had to resell the homes at a higher price to someone else.

Stephen Bulat said he got his deposit back, but no house. He points out that he has lost equity because he has been out of the booming real estate market for 20 months.

"The advantage of buying a house before it is built is that you lock in at current prices. The people that bought these homes say now that they are finished, [they] are worth $100,000 more, money that they have lost out on."

Losing home 'very emotional': buyer

Sunita Chand said she's getting over the shock of losing her home, and now she's ready to fight back.

"It was very emotional when we got the letter, but we had to get beyond that, that we have to protect our interest. I need to get my home as they promised."

A lawyer for Chand, Bulat and four other buyers is taking the developer to court.

"It's a valid binding contract. There is no right in that contract for the developer to say, 'I don't want to do it any more.' They don't have the right to back out," Shane Coblin said.

Certificates of pending litigation on the titles of those properties have also been filed in court, making it difficult for them to be sold to someone else.

The issue has caught the attention of the province's solicitor general.

"It's completely unconscionable," said John Les. "They had a deal. They had a series of deals with buyers. Those deals are very likely enforceable under the law, and these potential buyers have every right to expect the courts to uphold those agreements.

"You cannot unilaterally walk away from a deal like that without consequences."

A news release issued by lawyers for the company calls the situation "most unfortunate and regrettable," and apologizes for any "inconvenience or hardship" for those affected.

The wife of the director of CB Developments, Marion Lochhead, was the listing agent for the properties when they were first sold. She is also the daughter of the other, more high-profile director of the company, Graydon Hayward.

Hayward is a director of the Vancouver Board of Trade, as well as a director of the Vancouver Airport Authority. In 1987, he was the deputy minister of tourism for the province.