Image ripped off from Alaska education systemGrack! I, and the fambly have been sick as dogs...and you thought I didn't love you anymore... I'm still pretty sick, but the miniature ME is more settled, so I have a few minutes.
Did you hear about the guy who is renting condos from flippers, and hiding behind the RTA (Residential Tenancy Act) to rip off the condo "owners"? Seems that this snake on the property ladder is leasing condos from "accidental" landlords, renting them out to foreign exchange students, pocketing all of the cash, and telling the "owners" to go frag themselves. Ouch! Can you imagine? Rennie Robots, who were more than bold, bought pre-sales, that they then had to complete on. Faced with $3600/month mortgage payments, they desperately lease them out for $1800+/month to some scammer who re-rents them for $2400+/month, and pockets all of the cash. OMFG! The hairball, as interviewed by CBC, says that he only refuses to pay rent to landlords who "harass (him)".
The cops say that they can do nothing, because it is difficult to prove "intent to defraud". Flippers in Paradise, indeed... Rule of Law, indeed!Landlord: Uh, Mr. Jones-Smith-Brown, your rent cheques have bounced for the last 6 months, and my bank is freaking out on me because I am behind on payments. They are threatening to foreclose!
Mr. Snake-On-Your-Property-Ladder : Quit hassling me man! I'm never paying you now!
So, how about those City services? Snow removal? Pshawww! The City's plan is to wait for the rain. Get out of your car and take public transit!
"Ooops! Sorry! The buses can't run because one of the two plough operators is onMy sister-in-law observed a City truck driver, with a plough, and a hopper full of sand and salt, snooze on her quiet corner for over two hours.
holidays, and we can't afford to pay over-time".
I saw the first taxi cab on my street in three weeks last night. He got stuck. I went out with a shovel to help him.
ICBC reports a 30% increase in claims since this weather has started. My question is; how many hundreds of millions of dollars in property damages, personal injuries, lost productivity, etc., has the City's lack of response cost the citizens of this city? I heard Raymond Louie last week going on about how this is a "40 year event". Horse shoes! This is the second year in a row, and is a building trend. Climate change is upon us (forget about the Global Warming BS, Climate Change is the reality).
And, all of a sudden, our Federal Transportation Minister is concerned about the 2010 Games, and how we will deal with it if it snows. We will get 4 more trucks. Yee haw!
I could go on, and I will, but is this really The Best Place on Earth? Hummph!
16 comments:
Ah Sol, deep breaths.....
Sure it's the end of the world, but for every day you have four walls and a roof, and food and a family, be happy and thankful.
At least, that's what I'm trying to do. Sure I probably come off as a sharp tongued smartass, but honestly I'm a softie.
Or at least I've been turning into one ever since I started cheffin' school. Today I learned how to dice an onion. Seriously. It was awesome. :)
Sol. I empathize.
We all had the stomach flu over xmas. Yuck!
I read that story about the scumlord.
Am I really whack if I secretly want the Olympics to fail? The timing now seems so bad. I never wanted them here in the first place. If I had a vote, it would have been no as I knew it would be a long term nightmare for tax payers of this province.
You're right about climate change. We have had about three years of unusually higher amounts of snow and cooler winter temps. These cycles usually last a few years...only one year away...hmmm
pbell
what an insane story. So why don't they evict whoever is living there. How can something ilke this go on for 6 months. They should be able to evict someone in a month. Here in Alberta its two weeks. What a joke BC is. I am glad I left the place at times. Of course there is every other day I hate being in Alberta. I feel sorry for the owner in this case.
ted
Wow just read about it online. It took 6 months and $30,000 to get rid of the guy from one suite. BC laws are nuts. It really is lala land not California. It is the promised land for fraudsters ones outside the law like this David Messina thug and of course the usual pimps who promote gimicky ways to make money like buying condos. The laws need to be rewritten.
I have said years once the facade of wealth fades BC has all the makings of a failed state. It is stable becaue it is attached to Canada. But most people make ends meat in illegal or fraudulent ways its a matter of time before there is total anarchy. Part of me predicts a Greece stlye uprising. Part of me says most people are too lazy and stupid to even realize how messed up things are right now.
ted
"You're right about climate change. We have had about three years of unusually higher amounts of snow and cooler winter temps. These cycles usually last a few years...only one year away...hmmm"
Try 30. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation has gone negative after being positive since 1977, so even if there is anything to global warming theory in general it's over in this neck of the woods.
I saw a snow plow driver also sleep at the corner of 8th and Maple for a couple hours two nights in a row..
lessee:
if it doesn't snow the Olympics
are doomed fail....
and if it does snow the Olympics are doomed to fail...
uh oh! deep doo doo!
blueskies
*I could go on, and I will, but is this really The Best Place on Earth? Hummph!*
YES! When the typical Vancouverite pulls his or her head out of his or her ass, it certainly MUST look like the "best place on earth" compared to the previous view.
Scullboy - you can't hide the softie from me...
A tip for dicing, slicing, or otherwise incising onions; put them in the fridge for an hour first, or the freezer for a few minutes - the cold lessens the eruptions of volatile oils, and the old eyes don't burn. Shallots will always get you.
pbell - I'm one of a few that voted against the Olympics, and against the borrowing of hundreds of millions for related "infrastructure expenditures".
For what it's worth, the planet is warming, but from the core out, rather than simply atmospheric. The other planets in our solar system without atmospheres are doing likewise.
ted - I'm really starting to like you! I like the "failed state" reference.
I can't quite bring myself to feel sorry for the "owner" though. 15 minutes of infamy is almost as good as 15 minutes of fame.
alexcurylo - thanks for the reference to PDO. There seems to be a correlation to salmon stock fluctuations?
blueskies - doomed if we do, doomed if we...ah, nevermind. I have always had a big feeling that the Games are a shell game.
Chilled - I recommend that you stick your head up your ass for a while to warm up your brain. When it is warmed up, maybe you will outline what makes this TBPOE? (say, compared to Barcelona, or Amsterdam, or Dubai, or Abu Dhabi, or Stockholm, etc.)
Hey Sol,
I never cry from chopping aromatics. Strange, huh? I'm doing knife skills now and it's AWESOME mainly because I LOVE playing with knives. You can check out my blog at www.thelaughingchef.info . Turns out we're allowed to take photos of our work.
I find lately I'm paying less and less attention to real estate. Maybe it's because I'm a contrarian. Maybe it's become the depression is setting in around me. I've already gone through the worst, and I'm coming back out the other side.
Just like me to work counter to the economic cycle. :)
"Is this really the best place on earth?"
Well, Surrey is the best place on earth compared to Mumbai, apparently.
See the problem is that landlords rely on the residential tenancy act to remove these kinds of people from their properties in a 'legal' manner. This costs them time, which in the RE game costs you money.
Reality is that Arbitration has gone the way of the dodo. It takes far to long to get an appt with these people. For landlords and tenants alike.
My Solution:
Get a few of your large friends from the Fraser Valley, go onto your property grab the individual(s) and their belongings, toss it and them onto the street.Change your locks on the spot. If they have a problem with it and make a fuss, inform them they can apply for arbitration. They should get a hearing in about a year or so.
Solved.
solipist I have always liked you so thanks. I just get grumpy sometimes
ted
Scullboy - when I think of real estate these days, it is not urban RE that I think of. (cryptic reference to deeper thoughts)
anon@ #11 - cryptic reference! I like it. (I hope that I really did get it)
anon@ #12 - that is the way things were done in other times, and in other places, that I have known. No muss, no fuss - (Nobody gets hurt, and) it is an elegant solution.
ted - I'm kinda bitchy myself these days.
Sol. In my mind its "The Sun" that determines Earth's climate (surface temps) Flares...sunspots, etc.
pbell
The cartoon does reflect the situation.
Boise real estate
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