No transparency paperwork for Vancouver condo advertising overseas owner
A condo for sale in Coal Harbour that made waves for advertising its good condition because of an overseas owner who’d never lived in it caught the attention of a retired lawyer who noticed the appropriate transparency paperwork wasn’t available.
The three-bedroom unit listed for $1.5 million inside one of The Lions towers at 1331 Alberni Street went on the market earlier this month. The listing agent initially described it as having an “overseas owner, never lived in. Like brand new unit!”
After Daily Hive published a piece on the eye-catching listing on December 6, it was modified to remove the line about the overseas owner.
REW
The story prompted Ron Usher, former general counsel for the BC Society of Notaries Public, to look it up in the Land Owner Transparency Registry (LOTR).
The registry was introduced in 2020 after BC’s Land Owner Transparency Act was passed in 2019 as an anti-money laundering initiative. The Act aims to end the secrecy around land ownership in the province. Individuals with an indirect interest in land in BC through corporations, trusts, and partnerships must disclose. In effect, it allows the public to see the person behind corporate-owned properties.
Land title records for the unit at 1331 Alberni Street indicate it’s owned by a numbered company. But there’s no corresponding LOTR filing for the property.
Overseas owners should “show some respect” for transparency laws
The Lions at 1331 Alberni Street (REW)
A spokesperson for BC’s Ministry of Finance, the arm responsible for enforcing the Act, said it couldn’t comment on actions taken for a specific property due to privacy concerns. However, it did say there are some circumstances when a document wouldn’t appear, but no wrongdoing has occurred.
It is possible the numbered company that owns The Lions unit is not a “relevant corporation” as defined in the Act and, therefore, not obligated to file a transparency report. There are also certain circumstances where filings aren’t made public. That includes if the owner is under 19 or a person determined incapable of managing their financial affairs.
But Usher wondered if it speaks to the government’s lack of appetite to enforce the Land Owner Transparency Act.
“Let’s show some respect for everybody that’s complied with the law and appropriately track down people that aren’t complying,” he told Daily Hive. “Let’s get on with it or scrap the Act. Because if we’re not serious about it … it’s money laundering green-washing.”
Usher supports the creation of the registry but wants taxpayers to see the intended benefits of legislation that took time and money to pass.
“British Columbians have had to bear the cost of complying with this law. Every single person buying their first condo had to make a declaration about this,” Usher said. “It’s pretty annoying that the people this is aimed at [could be] getting away with non-compliance.”
As for the listing itself, Usher commended the listing agent’s honesty. Listing agent Kai Zhao did not respond to a request for comment.
Canada enacted a ban on foreign ownership that prevents non-Canadian people and companies from purchasing property in January 2023 in response to the country’s sky-high housing prices. The ban will remain in place until at least 2027.
“Foreign commercial enterprises and people who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents will continue to be prohibited from purchasing residential property in Canada,” Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a news release back in February.
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