More Harassment by City of Vancouver Vacant Home Office auditors. It's time for fair-minded civic officials to intervene!

Hello Mr Geller,

I read with interest your opinion piece regarding the Empty Home Tax.  We too have been selected in an audit to support our claim that our home is not sitting empty.  

We built and moved into our house March 2017 and live here full time.  We share our home with our two teenage daughters, 2 cats, 2 bunnies and multiple foster kittens for a Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue association.  I have supplied the necessary documentation as requested yet the City still wants me to submit the ICBC form you reference in your writing.  I tried to access the form on line yet the site does not recognize my BCDL number or password and has locked me out of the site.  I explained this to the agent from the City and suggested that if I needed to fill out a form, they should supply the form instead of asking residents to go to a third party i.e. ICBC.  What are those who do not drive do to fulfill the City’s wishes?  I was also notified on August 24th that I had exactly one week to submit required documentation or face fines.  What will happen to the many that are enjoying a Summer vacation and will be unaware of this demand before the said deadline?  

I have sent the following original documents to the City by Registered Mail (at their insistence) - ICBC vehicle insurance and registration, certificate of homeowners insurance, and our Fortis Gas bills for April - December 2017.  They already have a copy of my valid Drivers License that shows my address.  So now I wait to see if they will leave me alone.  

More important than my irritation is the fact that none of the supporting documents they require prove I am actually living in my house.  A quick visit by a City agent would quickly determine whether a house was actually lived in or not.

Sigh …