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With markets tough in the States, U.S. Developers are coming here...

	Ozzie Jurock on Global TV US Real Estate Developers Selling to Canadians

Some don't know the rules ... if you buy from a developer here ... YOU must understand the law:

Financial Institutions Commission of BC has begun to crack down on U.S. real estate companies pitching their property in B.C.

This month Westwater Associates LLC of Seattle, which was running newspaper ads and holding sale events for a Seattle condo project was told to cease and desist or face a fine.

Under B.C. regulations, out-of-province developers must:

1. file a prospectus

2. be represented by a licensed BC realtor in order to sell real estate in the province.

3. FICOM explained the rules are meant to protect B.C. consumers:
a. Prospectus requires that any deposits are held in trust in B.C.
b. Buyers have a seven-day cooling off period in which they can cancel a sale without penalty.
c. Protection for buyers: a purchase agreement is not enforceable against a purchaser by a developer who has breached the act.
d. 11 more protection rules...

If you buy a US development make sure a prospectus has been filed in BC... and check out the developer...

Major Point: The crackdown by FICOM underlines the advice that any investors in U.S. real estate, especially in these turbulent times, have to be careful about whom they are buying from. Always visit the property personally, check out the developers and make sure what is being advertised is what you are getting.

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