How to Vet a Presale Developer in BC (2026): The Public Records That Warned Buyers First

You can vet a BC presale developer in about twenty minutes using four public records — the BC Housing licence registry, the New Homes Registry warranty status, the municipal building permit, and a court judgment search. In the biggest presale insolvency now before the BC Supreme Court, every one of those red flags was publicly visible before the project collapsed. Nobody thought to look. The Bank of Canada held its policy rate at 2.25% again today — the sixth consecutive hold, with the Bank Rate at 2.5%. Stable rates are good news for presale buyers. But rates were never the risk that hurt BC presale buyers over the last eighteen months. Developer solvency was. The Fraser Valley condo benchmark sits at $476,400 in June 2026, down 9.1% year-over-year and down 1.5% from May. Condos are taking 38 days to sell. When prices soften and sales slow, thinly-financed developers run out of runway — and presale buyers are the last people to find out. Every red flag at Eclipse was public — years early Thind Properties' Eclipse tower in Burnaby is the case every BC presale buyer should study. The 34-storey building was roughly 95% complete with 232 of its 329 units pre-sold when it entered creditor protection in January 2025. Two groups of purchasers representing 32 units — a combined $26 million in presales — filed applications in April 2026 asking a judge to declare their contracts unenforceable. Their argument, per the court filings: the developer breached BC's Real Estate Development Marketing Act REDMA by failing to disclose material facts. Look at what those filings say was already on the public record: Date What happened Where a buyer could have seen it June 2023 CRA obtained a judgment against the developer for approximately $12 million BC Supreme Court civil search CSO Oct 2024 Home warranty coverage for the development suspended BC Housing New Homes Registry Nov 2024 City of Burnaby suspended the building permit; construction ceased Municipal permit portal Jan 2025 Project enters creditor protection CCAA Too late The purchasers allege those facts were never disclosed to them, "in clear breach of the REDMA." Whichever way the court rules, the lesson is already free: an eighteen-month paper trail existed in public databases while units were still being sold. Nobody at…

This article is part of the PresaleProperties.com BC real estate guide library. It is intended for buyers comparing presale condos, townhomes, assignments, deposits, completion timelines, neighbourhoods and developer incentives across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

Because presale information changes quickly, readers should verify current project pricing, floor plans, incentives and availability before signing contracts or submitting deposits. For direct help, call 672 258-1100 or request VIP access on the relevant project page.