Desperate owners of poorly built homes in Alberta say industry advocate let them down

Early one morning in February last year Adetola Wall had had enough. 

The roof of her Edmonton house was leaking again.

Wall had purchased the newly built home in 2016, but within a year noticed moisture in the attic. It would be the beginning of a four-year losing battle with the builder and warranty provider.

In February 2021, she learned about John McKale, owner of Home Warranty Advocates, who billed himself as a crusader for owners of poorly built homes.

But, she says, that moment of hope would also turn into disappointment and, when she read a CBC news story about McKale she felt she had to respond.

"The article was ... showing that he was in a good light and helping people and that hadn't been my experience, and I knew a few people who hadn't had that experience," Wall says.

When Wall contacted McKale, she was desperate.

"I was pretty frantic," she said. "I literally felt like there was no hope. I had a small child, so I just really was concerned about the mould in the home affecting him."

McKale agreed to advocate for her, suggesting he could get money from the builder or warranty provider so she could make the repairs herself, Wall said. 

She paid Home Warranty Advocates $2,625.

"He always said throughout the process that it was refundable," she said. 

But almost a year later nothing has been done, Wall said.

The online portal created for her by Home Warranty Advocates shows no entries after an audit of her house was completed in February 2021. 

Wall says her warranty provider told her no claim has been filed under her name by Home Warranty Advocates.