Property Value Protection Program FAQs
Click on the house for more information on the Property Value Protection Program
What is the Property Value Protection Program?
The Property Value Protection (PVP) Program is part of the Port Hope Area Initiative and protects property owners within a designated area (PVP Zone) if they experience a loss on the sale or rental of their property or mortgage renewal difficulties as a result of the plans or activities of the Port Hope Area Initiative. The PVP Zone includes all of Ward 1 Port Hope, part of Ward 2 Port Hope and a small part of southeast Clarington.
How does PVP work? Do I have to register to be covered?
There’s no need to register.The PVP Program is there if you need it.
Any property owner in the zone may file a claim for compensation if they believe they suffered one of the above losses as a result of the Initiative. For loss on sale, the time to submit a claim is after you have accepted a firm offer (do not wait until after the sale has closed). If the PVP Program’s analysis of the sale confirms that a project-related loss occurred and you meet other qualifying requirements, you will receive payment. In short, PVP compensation for loss on sale equals the difference between what the property would have sold for if the Project had not affected its value and what the actual selling price was.
How do you determine what the property should have sold for?
As soon as an owner sells and files a claim application, the PVP Program engages an independent, certified appraisal of the property, at the program’s expense. The appraisal establishes the unaffected fair market value of the property, that is, what the property would have sold for if the Project did not exist.
To do this, the appraiser samples recent sales of similar properties that are located away from areas that could have potential project effects. In Port Hope, such potentially affected areas include neighbourhoods near large-scale, future clean-up sites, along designated project transportation routes and near the site of the future long-term waste management facility. For the Port Granby Project, the appraiser would sample recent sales in the broader area, outside of the Hamlet of Port Granby. Cobourg properties are also used as comparables for the Port Hope Project.
PVP staff carefully analyzes the marketing of the property and the broader, regional and global market influences to make sure no other factors, unrelated to the Project, may have affected its value. If this evaluation confirms that the selling price was less than the unaffected fair market value (appraised value), that no other external factors affected the sale and that all of the program’s eligibility requirements were met, the PVP Program confirms a project-related loss and approves compensation.
I’m having trouble selling my house. Can the PVP program help?
All properties in the zone are covered by the PVP, but the PVP Program offers a special service, called pre-sale appraisals, to assist owners of properties that have a potential for direct project effects (increased traffic or noise) before they sell. This is because sellers of properties located very close to future large-scale clean-up sites, along designated project transportation routes or near the future site of the long-term waste management facility may experience difficulty selling and require special assistance to attract buyers.
All pre-sale appraisals arranged by the PVP Program are conducted by an independent appraiser, certified by the Appraisal Institute of Canada, at the full cost of the Port Hope Area Initiative. The appraisal report establishes what the current “unaffected” value of the property is (as if the Project did not exist) and what the selling price should be.
Pre-sale appraisals help these sellers to market their properties competitively by gradually reducing the list price until the property sells. Because the owners know ahead of time how much PVP compensation to expect when the property sells – unaffected fair market, as appraised, minus the selling price – owners have the confidence, with the help of their eral estate agent, to aggressively market the property until they find a willing buyer.
Pre-sale appraisals are completely voluntary and designed for motivated sellers. To be eligible for a pre-sale appraisal the property must be located in an area with a site-specific (direct) project effect and must have been listed continuously on the open market for at least one-and-a-half times the average days on market for the month of listing (real estate agents and the PVP Program can provide this statistic). Additionally, the owner must have reduced the price at least once during the listing period and be willing to lower the list price again to meet the appraised value.
To date, every seller who has received a pre-sale appraisal and worked with the real estate agent and PVP Program staff as described above has successfully sold the property and received compensation.
Is all real estate in the PVP zone affected?
No. In fact, most properties in Port Hope and southeast Clarington sell normally and are not expected to suffer real estate effects from the Port Hope Area Initiative. The PVP Zone is a broad area (92 sq. km.) Its existence does not mean that properties within it will necessarily be negatively affected by the projects.
Since 2001, the PVP Program has diligently monitored the local real estate market. Program staff collects and analyzes data on sales activity, prices and the average selling times for properties in Cobourg and Port Hope on an ongoing basis.
This analysis has shown that, to date, the general Port Hope market is functioning as it has for the past decade.
In other words, when compared to Cobourg, where there is no potential for project-related market effects, the Port Hope real estate market does not show evidence, on a continuing basis, of project-related change.
In Port Hope, site-specific losses involving sales close to future project activities, such as large-scale clean-up sites, have been validated, and PVP compensation has been paid. The PVP Program’s ongoing monitoring of the market will reveal if changes occur. If, for example, the local market is affected more broadly during Phase 2, when excavation and transportation of the waste begins, the PVP Program will recognize this and protect owners from losses that may occur.
What if I’m not satisfied with the claim decision?
The PVP Program includes a no-cost, two-stage appeal process for all claimants. The first stage is a mediation hearing, heard by an independent, certified mediator. If a consensus-based settlement cannot be reached at this stage, a claimant may request to proceed to arbitration, which will result in an imposed decision by a PVP Compensation Officer. Compensation Officers are local citizens who have been nominated by the Municipality of Port Hope or Clarington and appointed by the Government of Canada to hear PVP appeals. The officers retain independence from the operations of the PVP Program.
For more information, contact the Port Hope Area Initiative at 115 Toronto Road, Port Hope, ON L1A 3S4.
call 905-885-0291
fax 905-885-9344
email pvpinfo@phai.ca