Enercare Water Heater Rental Scam, DON'T SIGN ANYTHING!

[Sarah2012]

Originally Posted by jeeva86

It should be in your APS. Mine says:
It is agreed that the hot water system(tankless) is leased and not included in the Tax Included Selling Price. The purchaser agrees to assume the lease payments for the system from the date of the completion of the transaction.

Our take on that clause was that we agreed to take on the lease payments, not any kind of lease term. Had we chosen to remove their unit (instead of buying it out, which is what we did), we would have sited that in our cancellation notice.


IMO, every single person moving into a new build and questioning their legal obligations surrounding the tank/tankless rental needs to speak with their lawyer! Everybody on this forum has different clauses in their sales agreements, and many of us have very different opinions on how to handle this situation. The OP is ready for battle! And that's cool for him in his situation. But some of the sales agreement clauses I've run across are iron-clad and you're just f'ed if you want out of them. Period. So know what you're getting into before you pick a fight.

[pabloottawa]

Originally Posted by Sarah2012

know what you're getting into before you pick a fight.

True. There are actually many people here who went through the same thing and got out of it due to no terms or signature.

[alsh]

I agree with Sara2012, this is my APS clause and I'm confused on whether can I get out of it or not

[pabloottawa]

Originally Posted by alsh

I agree with Sara2012, this is my APS clause and I'm confused on whether can I get out of it or not

It's not binding. You agreed to this however, the rental company is not named in the agreement, the monthly cost and buyout cost is not stated and there is no signature as per that portion of the agreement so the question is raised; who is the rental company and what are the costs? you don't have these details and therefore have not agreed to anything. The builder knows that making someone sign next to that paragraph will raise eyebrows and delay signing. This is why they don't make you sign there.

[alsh]

Originally Posted by pabloottawa

It's not binding. You agreed to this however, the rental company is not named in the agreement, the monthly cost and buyout cost is not stated and there is no signature as per that portion of the agreement so the question is raised; who is the rental company and what are the costs? you don't have these details and therefore have not agreed to anything. The builder knows that making someone sign next to that paragraph will raise eyebrows and delay signing. This is why they don't make you sign there.

They actually made me initial at the bottom of that page and every other page in the APS

[pabloottawa]

you might be stuck then. Talk to your lawyer. The one thing that may be relevant in this is Enercare's history for pulling this scam in the past under the name Direct Energy. they didn't change their name for nothing.

[montreal]

Folks, these types of inflammatory threads are just driving homeowners to be further weary and stressed about these details. 'SCAM', 'DON'T SIGN' etc..

Just take a moment..

Do you want hot water in your new home? I would assume 'yes' is the answer.

Most new home builders in Ottawa have made the business decision to have the hot water supplied via a device that's a rental to the new homeowner. Which means a lower base price of the homes (whether you believe it or not).

BUT - there's still a cost to the builder to rough-in and install the tank to provide that service. So they recoup some of those costs via an arrangement with the tank provider and in lieu the tank becomes a rental to the new homeowner.

Whether it's overpriced or not, fair or not and whether your handy or not, a gas fitter or not a plumber or not, doesn't matter in this case, sorry.

The alternative is you don't buy a new home, or you just abide by the terms of the overall agreement (ie, rent it or buy it out on day one).

All these sending registered letters, leaving tanks in the driveway, paying nothing when the calls or bills come in etc..does it work? Maybe here and there..but certainly not without a lot of headaches, meetings with lawyers, hits to your credit score etc. And even then it looks like it's only the most persistent that come to a 'favorable' conclusion.

You have to ask yourself what's the cost (in terms of $ spent, your time and energy/stress) to proceed through these channels AND have another tank professionally installed (cause you still need hot water, correct?) vs just renting the thing and be assured that your system is already professionally installed, ready on occupancy and is covered should anything break down.

Folks - make sure your making an apples to apples comparison before you start ripping out parts of your house.

Just my 2 cents..

[pabloottawa]

Originally Posted by montreal

Folks, these types of inflammatory threads are just driving homeowners to be further weary and stressed about these details. 'SCAM', 'DON'T SIGN' etc..

Just take a moment..

Do you want hot water in your new home? I would assume 'yes' is the answer.

Most new home builders in Ottawa have made the business decision to have the hot water supplied via a device that's a rental to the new homeowner. Which means a lower base price of the homes (whether you believe it or not).

BUT - there's still a cost to the builder to rough-in and install the tank to provide that service. So they recoup some of those costs via an arrangement with the tank provider and in lieu the tank becomes a rental to the new homeowner.

Whether it's overpriced or not, fair or not and whether your handy or not, a gas fitter or not a plumber or not, doesn't matter in this case, sorry.

The alternative is you don't buy a new home, or you just abide by the terms of the overall agreement (ie, rent it or buy it out on day one).

All these sending registered letters, leaving tanks in the driveway, paying nothing when the calls or bills come in etc..does it work? Maybe here and there..but certainly not without a lot of headaches, meetings with lawyers, hits to your credit score etc. And even then it looks like it's only the most persistent that come to a 'favorable' conclusion.

You have to ask yourself what's the cost (in terms of $ spent, your time and energy/stress) to proceed through these channels AND have another tank professionally installed (cause you still need hot water, correct?) vs just renting the thing and be assured that your system is already professionally installed, ready on occupancy and is covered should anything break down.

Folks - make sure your making an apples to apples comparison before you start ripping out parts of your house.

Just my 2 cents..

I'm sure everyone takes this into account. If paying an unnecessary monthly fee is for you then you do you.

You might want to read up on the cost vs. benefits as the notion that renting means free maintenance and service is bogus. Just read the fine print. They can get out of giving you free maintenance and service contrary to what they try to get you to believe.

Look, I'm not slamming you. I'm just saying that your choice should be just that, a CHOICE..... The way things are set up, home buyers aren't given a choice, aren't informed and even if they were, they are forced to sign under duress as refusal to any portion of the sales agreement results in the seller moving on to another buyer. How fair is that? If everyone was like you and just raised their arms in defeat saying; "It is what it is." then nothing changes.

[OttawaG]

I also feel the same way that buyers are not given an option at all on whether to rent or to outright buy by paying the extra amount. I wouldn't have minded paying for outright buy but when asked was told that no such option exists & renting is part of the package of buying the house, not a fair deal at all in my opinion. Also I had no choice but rent this tankless heater whereas I would have preferred a tank.
Just adding my two cents, not my intention to offend anyone here

[suezuki650]

You still have a buyout option. Yes, it's more than just getting company XYZ to come in and install a similar tank, however, in a house that never had that infrastructure, it would have cost more.

I did just that, and if I look at what I would have paid over the term of the contract, I could afford to buy and install a whole new tank. My tank has the manufacturer's warranty so I still feel I came out ahead and with less stress than some of the other options.

I think everyone wants to save a few dollars. Some of us (like me) feel that the schedule I signed with my builder, and the fact that I chose my tank at design, had me tied to the tank provider. I picked my best way out.