Vancouver senior slapped with empty homes tax when renovations were delayed due to pandemic
An 89-year-old woman who has been renting out a Vancouver apartment for 27 years, has been told by the City of Vancouver that she owes more than $5,000 in empty homes tax.
When the senior’s tenant moved out in December 2019, she decided to renovate the home on Hamilton Street before renting it out again. The kitchen was 30 years old.
But she didn’t know then that the renovations would take a lot longer than expected due to pandemic setbacks.
New countertops, cupboards and appliances were ordered. The old kitchen was ripped out, “and then everything went sideways,” said her son Greg Jacklin, who helps his mother manage the apartment.
The family estimated the renovations would take eight weeks tops, but delays due to COVID-19 lockdowns and labour shortages saw the upgrade take almost a year.
What’s more, some items were stuck at facilities on the prairies, trapped by railway shutdowns. When the items finally arrived, the wrong boxes had been sent.
As the months passed, the bills piled up and nobody was paying rent.
“Every retired widowed school teacher can use some cash,” said her son.
Each year, Vancouver homeowners are required to declare whether their properties are empty. If they are, the owner may be charged 1.25 per cent tax. The empty homes tax is designed to make finding a place to rent easier, and force speculators to rent their homes.
Greg Jacklin told CTV News they declared the apartment empty, because it was. It couldn't be rented in its current state.
“I wasn’t going to lie, because I didn’t want anything to come back at us,” he said. “The unit was empty, there’s no kitchen so we couldn't rent it out.”
Despite pleading their case, the City of Vancouver’s tax department didn’t back down and told her she owes $5,152.06. Jacklin even appealed the decision, and argued extenuating circumstances, but that plea was also denied.
“You know you get to a point where are you were just tired of the whole thing,” Jacklin said. “My mother at 88 years old did not suddenly turn into a real estate speculator.”
A spokesperson for the city told CTV News tax exemptions are sometimes made for owners with building permits.
But Jacklin was renovating a kitchen. A permit isn’t needed for that.
Today the Hamilton apartment is looking brand new, and a new tenant has finally moved in.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.