The housing crisis will never end without levying forceful taxes against real estate speculators and investors. A recent report outlines the necessary actions to impose taxes that can actually narrow the wealth gap and alleviate the housing emergency.
The issue is owners just fake the documents when your property tax or vacancy tax mail arrives. Friend of mine rents basement suite, landlord has not lived in main house for over two years, it has been empty the entire time. somebody comes every few weeks to collect mail.
Then why not check on it occasionally and put a hefty fine on it when they fake the documents? If you cannot make a new and important law because rich people will try to bypass it than the state is useless.
Agreed.
People forging documents to evade taxes? That’s fraud. Put them in jail or if they’re a foreign national; take their property until they set foot in the country; then put them in jail.
There definitetly should be a better method. An honour system by mailing and online affirmation of occupied unit is useless.
You’d have to have someone go door-to-door at random intervals for an absolute check, I think, but that isn’t a bad thing provided that the people doing it are paid a reasonable wage.
Whistleblower law that lets people who finger this kind of landlord take ownership of the property at a nominal fee for processing the paperwork. Call it $25.