Fwd: Re. housing crisis
Erich Jacoby-Hawkins
The thin end of the wedge on educating people about the perils of
using real estate as a vehicle for storing and increasing wealth?
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| Dear Erich, It’s no secret that house prices are through the roof in Canada — but now, a groundbreaking report has revealed the secrets of why prices are so high. Criminals, tax dodgers, and secret companies are laundering BILLIONS of dollars through Canada’s real estate market [1], because they don’t have to disclose their identity when they buy property. The worst part? This dirty money drives house prices through the roof, making it almost impossible for everyday people to rent or buy a home. Everybody deserves an affordable, safe place to call home, but loopholes like this make it much harder for everyday people to save up the cash they need. Just last month, the Finance Minister announced changes to combat money laundering in BC, but the rest of the country needs action too. We need a national policy to combat money laundering in real estate. Will you sign the petition now, and call on Finance Minister Bill Morneau to stop money laundering in real estate? Canada has become a haven for criminals to clean their dirty money through real estate, because gaps in our laws allow anyone with enough cash to buy a house -- without giving their names. This loophole makes it easy for criminals and tax evaders to hide money in secret. [3] It’s so bad that the US just called Canada a “major money laundering country”.[4] But there’s a simple solution that could help: a public registry. Criminals laundering billions of anonymous cash through Canadian real estate do it because it’s just that: anonymous. A public registry, requiring anyone who buys a home in Canada to provide the names and identification of true owners, would prevent criminals from anonymously dumping their dirty money into luxury homes that no one will ever live in, and inflating housing prices. [5] In other countries that adopted similar transparency policies, real estate money laundering fell by between 75 -90%. [6] It’s a simple solution and it works. The Liberals say they want to make housing more affordable for people in Canada, and in an election year, they’re looking for ways to show voters that they’re listening. [7] A massive public outcry now, just a few months out from the election, could be enough to force them to take action. Add your name now, and call on Minister Morneau to stop dirty money from driving Canadian housing prices through the roof. Erich, housing affordability in Canadian cities is at crisis level. [8] Money laundering through real estate is inflating housing prices, and driving everyday people out of their own cities because they can’t afford to stay. The BC government already has plans to implement a public registry for real estate, and if the federal government made a national registry to cast transparency on secret companies, it could be enough to curb soaring housing prices across the country. [9] But the Liberals will only take action on this if they think it’s what a majority of voters want. Add your name now, and call on Minister Morneau to create a public registry that lists the true owners of companies to combat money laundering in real-estate. https://act.leadnow.ca/laundering/ Thanks for all you do, Jolan and Brittany, on behalf of the Leadnow team Sources: [1] Transparency International Canada, http://www.transparencycanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BOT-GTA-Report-WEB-copy.pdf [2] https://endsnowwashing.ca/, The Toronto Star, https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2019/03/21/dirty-money-is-driving-up-toronto-real-estate-prices-report-says.html [3] Transparency International Canada, http://www.transparencycanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BOT-GTA-Report-WEB-copy.pdf [4] Global News, https://globalnews.ca/news/5102137/us-canada-major-money-laundering-country/ [5] https://endsnowwashing.ca/ [6] https://www.liberal.ca/realchange/affordable-housing/ [7] https://www.barchart.com/story/stocks/quotes/CEY/news/1338759/housing-affordability-at-crisis-levels-in-vancouver-and-toronto-with-montreal-pushing-the-limits [8] https://www.thestar.com/vancouver/2019/03/10/who-owns-vancouvers-multimillion-dollar-properties-if-this-new-registry-goes-ahead-the-owners-will-no-longer-be-secret.html [9-10] https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/b-c-to-create-government-registry-of-beneficial-property-ownership |
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Frank de Jong
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