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>>and city of Vancouver was given the authority to impose a new tax on empty homes. I wonder how they will actually enforce this. I mean, one can furnish a hom
by enraged_camel 10y ago
>>and city of Vancouver was given the authority to impose a new tax on empty homes.
I wonder how they will actually enforce this. I mean, one can furnish a home, have utilities remain active and leave a few lights on and make it look like someone is actually living there. Add some random noise generation (pretty easy to set up with home automation or other, similar methods) and you can fool basically anyone who isn't actively watching your door 24/7.
- tempestn 10y agoIIRC they're planning to use a number of sources. Things like utilities - so at a minimum you'd have to pay for and use a reasonable amount of electricity, water, etc. in the home. Even garbage/recycling collection would be a give-away. Insurance companies will also be a source of info, as insurance rates differ based on occupancy, so the companies have an incentive to determine the same. Finally anonymous reporting (ie from neighbours). Sounds like it should be pretty effective to me. The last bit least so, but utilities + insurance should go a long way. It's going to be a lot easier to just find a decent tenant (easy to do when housing is in such short supply; charge slightly below market rent if you want your pick from many applicants) than to do all the work to fake occupancy.
- hx87 10y ago> you can fool basically anyone who isn't actively watching your door 24/7 How easy is it to fool a surveillance camera pointed at your door 24/7 with an automated system trained to detect human movement watching it?