A B.C. woman is suing after buying a condo in a Langley building that she says the developer explicitly promised wasn’t built on a floodplain until long after she signed a contract.
Kamila Duda has been travelling the world teaching yoga for years. But recently, the urge to come home took root, so she saved up, and put a deposit down on a unit in the Elijah — a development property on Eastleigh Crescent near Glover Road.
“Langley is where my sister lives, it’s where my mom lives, so it’s nice and close to my family,” Duda explained.
But there was a catch: the building is located on a floodplain — a fact which buyers allege the developer covered up.
Duda says her contract explicitly claimed her apartment wasn’t located on a floodplain, and the truth only came to light in an amendment made nine months after she signed it.
“The amendment essentially said that now, the area is in a flood zone,” said Duda.
“I was in complete shock.”
She is now suing Whitetail Homes to void her contract. Her lawyers say there was no reason for Whitetail Homes to have been unaware that the construction site was prone to flooding.
“The allegations in the lawsuit indicate that the developer should have [known] by October of 2021,” explained Kinda Garcha with Dusevic & Garcha Law.
“There is a City of Langley floodplain bylaw which indicates that the lands on which the development was to be constructed lies on a floodplain.”
The Notice of Civil Claim lays out correspondences the developer had with the City of Langley which expressly acknowledged the building was located within a floodplain.
“The floodplain designation can affect the property value, the insurance availability, and the cost, financing, future resale, and restrictions on use, potential special levies if there’s flood damage to the building,” Garcha added.
CityNews reached out to Whitetail Homes multiple times over the course of the past two months and received no response.
Finally, after a visit to the head office, the developer provided a statement. Whitetail Homes says the lawsuit is without merit, and takes issue with the way the floodplain is defined.
But as it is defined, city officials confirmed it applies to the Elijah. Duda says she believes the court will affirm that fact.
“I want justice. I just want justice for what they’re doing.”