When he put a deposit on a pre-construction home with an in-law suite in a new housing development in Mississauga, Ont., Jawed Yusuf thought his dreams of buying a house big enough for his family — and for his father to come live with them from Pakistan — were finally coming true.

It’s been almost three years since he put the money down, but today, the project has been cancelled and the builder says it’s keeping his $150,000 deposit — unless Yusuf agrees not to sue.

Meanwhile, he and his family have no new home to move into, and his aging father remains in Pakistan.

“We have been planning for so long for this,” Yusuf said through tears. “It’s an honour for us when our parents live with us.”

In 2019, Yusuf paid a deposit on a home in Longview Ravine Estates — a 45-property development by Exquisite Bay Development Inc., also known as Bay Homes. The company billed the site as a luxury development of detached and semi-attached homes that backed onto a ravine in north Mississauga.

But the project went sideways, and last month Exquisite Bay sold the land to a different developer.

Buyers told CBC News they were never notified of the sale or the fate of the project; instead, they received letters, dated Apr. 11, 2022, from Exquisite Bay stating that they were in violation of their purchase agreements, and that the company was keeping their deposits unless they agreed not to take legal action.

The letters contained no mention of the sale or the cancellation of the project. 

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