Vancouver Wields C$10,000-a-Day Fine in Crackdown on Empty Homes

[misher]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Probably! Why is it the UDP picks multifamily design to death, yet there is absolutely no design control over the SFH that cover so much of Vancouver?

Its your right to have bad taste in your own home as long as that residence is not shared with others?

Plus I've seen the city have pretty bad taste too.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by misher

Its your right to have bad taste in your own home as long as that residence is not shared with others?

Plus I've seen the city have pretty bad taste too.

Why have the right to inflict that architectural abortion on innocent passers-by?
If the city reviews multifamily design, let them review SFH too. At least crap like that would get caught and nixed in even a cursory glance. Seriously, I wonder if an architect actually put his name to that horror show, or did they rely on the design skills of a builder?

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Why have the right to inflict that architectural abortion on innocent passers-by?
If the city reviews multifamily design, let them review SFH too. At least crap like that would get caught and nixed in even a cursory glance. Seriously, I wonder if an architect actually put his name to that horror show, or did they rely on the design skills of a builder?

Logistically speaking, the UDP would likely need its own city hall if that came into effect. Agreed that this Disney-Westeros montrosity is appallingly bad judgement.

[misher]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Why have the right to inflict that architectural abortion on innocent passers-by?
If the city reviews multifamily design, let them review SFH too. At least crap like that would get caught and nixed in even a cursory glance. Seriously, I wonder if an architect actually put his name to that horror show, or did they rely on the design skills of a builder?

Do you really want to increase the below and add another 2-3 years ontop of the wait time to build a home?
Btw the below helps explain why it costs so damn much for a home in Vancouver and who is really at fault.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by misher

Do you really want to increase the below and add another 2-3 years ontop of the wait time to build a home?
Btw the below helps explain why it costs so damn much for a home in Vancouver and who is really at fault.

Yup, and it's the same reason why Victoria and Kelowna have the same prices as Toronto. Can't blame everything on our park/library/co-op donation fund.

[SpongeG]

Vancouver condo owner accuses city of bullying over empty homes tax

Woman believes fighting $125 fine for missing deadline shouldn't prevent her from claiming $3,400 exemption

Eric Rankin · CBC News · Posted: Mar 21, 2019

When is a Vancouver home an empty home, even when it's occupied?

When you decide to fight the fine for missing the city's empty homes tax exemption deadline, and the city refuses to let you make a late declaration until the penalty is paid.

That's the catch-22 Carolina Abramovich says she finds herself in.

She said she's being billed $3,400 for having a vacant condo, even though she's had tenants for 11 years — all because she's fighting city hall over a $125 fine.

"There is an issue to me of bullying the little person," said Abramovich. "[It's] a completely real bureaucratic nightmare."

Under the city's empty homes tax, property owners are required to file a declaration every year, claiming non-primary residences are occupied.

Those claims are subject to a random audit.

5,000 property owners missed deadline

Vancouver imposed the empty homes tax last year, in an attempt to discourage property speculators from buying additional homes, and then leaving them empty while the city suffers through an affordable housing crisis.

...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...-tax-1.5065236

[MIPS]

Abramovich, 60, lives in a home in Richmond and rents out a condo in Vancouver.

She was out of the country for four months, coincidentally returning on the deadline to file for Vancouver's empty homes tax exemption — Feb. 4.

The semi-retired research scientist admits it was a mistake to miss the deadline, but says the city's warning notices were mailed to her tenant in the Vancouver condo, not her Richmond home address.

When Abramovich called Vancouver city hall the next day, she was told she had to pay the reduced $125 bylaw fine for missing the deadline.

If she paid, she would be eligible to make a late declaration — a new, second deadline introduced by the city this year, to cut down on a long and cumbersome complaint process that bogged down appeals last year, the first year of the tax.

This just sounds like a salty old lady who doesn't want to pay for her own poor scheduling.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by MIPS

This just sounds like a salty old lady who doesn't want to pay for her own poor scheduling.

When I first saw the title of the article, I felt the same way as you did. However, as I finished reading it, my opinion regarding it changed.

Since this is the first time the City is implementing this new tax, there should also be considerations to older people or others who are not so familiar with the declarations. They can perhaps extend the deadline a month after with a grace period? That's only fair.

In this case, it just shows that the City is bullying an elderly lady, who may not be so alert or oblivious about things happening around her.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Vin

When I first saw the title of the article, I felt the same way as you did. However, as I finished reading it, my opinion regarding it changed.

Since this is the first time the City is implementing this new tax, there should also be considerations to older people or others who are not so familiar with the declarations. They can perhaps extend the deadline a month after with a grace period? That's only fair.

In this case, it just shows that the City is bullying an elderly lady, who may not be so alert or oblivious about things happening around her.

She's 60. That may seem elderly to somebody like you, but it isn't.

Being a landlord aka running a business requires some basic awareness of what's happening around you.

[rofina]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

She's 60. That may seem elderly to somebody like you, but it isn't.

Being a landlord aka running a business requires some basic awareness of what's happening around you.

This - unless there are medical circumstances 60 is hardly elderly. She was more than capable of having this looked after.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Vin

When I first saw the title of the article, I felt the same way as you did. However, as I finished reading it, my opinion regarding it changed.

Since this is the first time the City is implementing this new tax, there should also be considerations to older people or others who are not so familiar with the declarations. They can perhaps extend the deadline a month after with a grace period? That's only fair.

In this case, it just shows that the City is bullying an elderly lady, who may not be so alert or oblivious about things happening around her.

60 isn't old these days. She's just being a whiny cow.

[jlousa]

Originally Posted by whatnext

60 isn't old these days. She's just being a whiny cow.

Wow a whiny cow, that's quite the deduction you've come to. Are the 250,000 BC residents that have not filled the speculation paperwork also whiny cows?

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by jlousa

Wow a whiny cow, that's quite the deduction you've come to. Are the 250,000 BC residents that have not filled the speculation paperwork also whiny cows?

It takes less than 5 minutes. My 80 year old mom was able to figure it out despite being so “elderly”.

[Abii]

Originally Posted by whatnext

60 isn't old these days. She's just being a whiny cow.

The left ladies and gentlemen. She's got a condo, so I'm going to disrespect her!

60 was old 800 years ago, it was old 80 years ago and it's old today. Life expectancy was low back in the day because of infant mortality etc. If you survived childhood you would have a fair shot of getting to an old age.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Abii

The left ladies and gentlemen. She's got a condo, so I'm going to disrespect her!

60 was old 800 years ago, it was old 80 years ago and it's old today. Life expectancy was low back in the day because of infant mortality etc. If you survived childhood you would have a fair shot of getting to an old age.

Sounds like you're the one disrespecting 60 year olds.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by Abii

The left ladies and gentlemen. She's got a condo, so I'm going to disrespect her!

60 was old 800 years ago, it was old 80 years ago and it's old today. Life expectancy was low back in the day because of infant mortality etc. If you survived childhood you would have a fair shot of getting to an old age.

I know an old lady in her mid-70s who often comes here on vacation, yet nevertheless manages both her houses back in Singapore via phone. Complains about taxes all the time, but never ever missed a deadline.

[SpongeG]

CRA executes search warrants on Vancouver properties in tax evasion case

'The net is tightening,' says National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier
Karina Roman · CBC News · Posted: Mar 28, 2019

The Canada Revenue Agency says its investigators executed search warrants on two properties in Vancouver today — part of an effort to find further evidence in a $77 million tax evasion case related to the Panama Papers.

The CRA says 40 criminal investigators took part in the operation.

The agency says investigators uncovered a series of transactions involving offshore tax havens linked to an alleged attempt by a non-resident to avoid paying tax he was withholding. Investigators relied on various sources, including records obtained through the Panama Papers leak, according to a news release.

"These complex investigations can take months or years to complete and I'm encouraged and very pleased with the search warrants that were executed this morning," said National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier in a written statement.

"The net is tightening."

The Panama Papers are the millions of documents leaked in 2016 that revealed financial and lawyer-client information for more than 200,000 offshore entities.

...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/can...uver-1.5075426

[retro_orange]

IMF warns easing Canada's housing rules would be 'ill-advised'

The International Monetary Fund is warning that Canada should not relax housing regulations, saying that the country’s real estate market still needs to cool down amid high consumer debt levels.

The organization’s report Tuesday comes as Vancouver and Toronto’s real estate boards have been calling on the federal government to ease its B-20 mortgage guideline that was introduced at the start of 2018. The rule imposed new stress tests for uninsured mortgages, in which borrowers make a down payment of at least 20 per cent on a home purchase.

“Several rounds of macroprudential measures, provincial and municipal tax measures, and tighter monetary policy have contributed to a reduction in housing-related financial stability risks,” the IMF said in a statement following an official mission to Canada.

“The government is under pressure to ease macroprudential policy or introduce new initiatives that buttress housing activity. This would be ill-advised, as household debt remains high and a gradual slowdown in the housing market is desirable to reduce vulnerabilities.”

The IMF’s call comes after Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz told BNN Bloomberg last week that he “would frown upon” policymakers loosening certain housing rules. The policies are having an important effect and Canadians are adapting, Poloz said.

The IMF also reiterated its recommendation that all levels of Canadian government need to work together to address housing supply issues, adding that the federal budget’s plan to examine rental and homeownership trends through the Expert Panel on the Future of Housing Supply and Affordability is a helpful step.

“To alleviate vulnerabilities in the housing market on a more durable basis, macroprudential policy should be complemented with a broad set of supply-side policies,” the report said. “Municipal, provincial and federal authorities need to work together to develop and implement a comprehensive housing supply strategy to increase density and alleviate construction bottlenecks.”

Still, a key domestic risk for Canada’s financial stability and growth could be a sharp correction in the housing market, the IMF said.

“If a house price correction is accompanied by a rise in unemployment and a collapse in private consumption, additional risks to financial stability and growth could emerge,” the IMF said.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/imf-warn...r&_gsc=mNzGL5N

[MIPS]

People getting salty about it, again.

City of Vancouver facing multiple lawsuits over empty homes tax

The City of Vancouver is facing multiple court challenges over its empty homes tax — all of which have been filed over the past six weeks.

At least two homeowners and one developer have taken issue with bills they received in 2017 during the first year of the controversial tax, which range from under $4,000 to roughly $289,000.

The petitions were filed in B.C. Supreme Court after appeals to the city were denied.

...


An apartment owner who lives in Kitsilano, Jufen Wang, filed his petition on June 24 against an empty homes tax bill of $3,881, saying he provided a wealth of documentation showing he lived at the residence for more than six months.

Some of those bills were in Wang’s daughter’s name, who Wang claims has power of attorney. But the city said it could still not accept those bills because they “are addressed to a different person,” the petition reads.

Homeowner Sau Po Wong, who lives at a house in the upscale Shaughnessy neighbourhood, claims in a June 28 filing he was one of the owners subjected to the city’s audit after declaring the home as his primary residence.

But during that audit he mistakenly submitted utility bills and other documentation from 2018, instead of 2017. He was out of town when the city informed him his audit was denied and would have to pay an additional tax bill of $128,310.

The developer, Pure West Financial Holdings Group Inc., filed a petition on May 28 saying the city was wrong to levy the tax against a home slated for demolition to make way for its 134-unit building on Cambie Street, The Condessa.

The B.C. developer claims the city charged the tax because it didn’t issue the necessary building permits before July 1, 2017, disqualifying it from an exemption.

But Pure West argues the exemption guidelines didn’t list July 1, 2017 as a deadline, nor does it provide any date for when building permits must be issued.

The property had an assessed value of $28,923,000 in 2017, meaning it would have been levied an empty homes tax of $289,000.

...

https://globalnews.ca/news/5462747/v...-tax-lawsuits/

[misher]

Originally Posted by MIPS

People getting salty about it, again.

It depends, is this for increasing our rental supply or for raising taxes. Because the first had always been the justification for the tax. And I don’t think the first benefits from a 28 million dollar rental.