In the biggest case ever brought before the HCRA's discipline committee, Briarwood Development Group was accused of violating the province's code of ethics for home builders by coercing 142 buyers into paying more for pre-construction homes, for which they had already paid deposits and signed agreements, ultimately extracting more than $18 million. The counts against Briarwood were all dismissed or withdrawn last month, after the HCRA failed to prove its case and bring forward substantial evidence.
Real Estate Effective Oct. 15, waived inspections will be a thing of the past. For years, Massachusetts homebuyers in the state's hyper-competitive real estate market felt pressured to waive home inspections to make their offers more appealing. As of Oct. 15, new state regulations ban homeowners and realtors from selling a property on the condition that they waive the inspection and prohibit buyers from offering to waive the inspection to get ahead of the competition.