52 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 80 PART 1 JANUARY 2022
not receive disclosure will have the right to rescind their purchase agreement
at any time. Purchasers receiving disclosure will have a standardized
seven-day period in which to rescind their purchase agreements …6
CURRENT APPLICATION OF REDMA
REDMA Process
REDMA continues to balance the rights of developers and purchasers, as
described by the B.C. Supreme Court in 2010: “There is ample authority in
British Columbia that REDMA is consumer protection legislation. Nevertheless,
fairness dictates that the developer is also afforded some degree of certainty
in terms of knowing that it has binding contracts of purchase and sale
in place.”7
REDMA protects consumers by ensuring that developers disclose material
facts to purchasers, and it is read generously in the consumer’s favour.8
Purchasers have a right of rescission if material facts are not disclosed, and
they have a right to treat the agreement as void if there is a delay in disclosing
material facts.9 On the other hand, REDMA allows developers to protect
themselves by advising purchasers if there are changes to material facts,
and REDMA generally serves developers by providing an efficient framework
for marketing projects in the province.10
In the case of pre-sale developments, developers market property and
provide information to purchasers about the property before it is completed.
Under REDMA, a developer cannot generally market property until
the developer has filed a disclosure statement with the Superintendent of
Real Estate.11 That disclosure statement must, “without misrepresentation,
plainly disclose all material facts” and “set out the substance of a purchaser’s
rights to rescission as provided under section 21”.12 If those material
facts change, s. 16 of REDMA provides that a developer must file an
amended disclosure statement and provide it to the purchasers.
In identifying what is a “misrepresentation” or a “material fact” for the
purposes of disclosure, s. 1 of REDMA defines “misrepresentation” as a
“false or misleading statement of a material fact, or an omission to state a
material fact”. That same section defines “material fact” as, among other
things, “a fact, or a proposal to do something, that affects … the value, price,
or use of the development unit or development property”.
Courts have further clarified that delays in construction dates (even
where those dates were originally presented as mere “estimates”) are misrepresentations.
In Chameleon Talent Inc. v. Sandcastle Holdings Ltd.,13 there
was a delay of nearly five months in starting construction, then completion
was delayed by a year. The developer said it did not need to file an amended