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The City of Bonavista has taken a new approach to dealing with airbnb hosts who represent unfair competition for hotels and bread-and-breakfast ins because they don't pay business taxes. They cut your sewer and water lines.
Bonavista cuts off services for Airbnb operators with unpaid business tax bills.
"We have gone to some pretty serious measures to collect. We have literally dug up driveways and turned off water (and) sewer service until the bill is paid, cutting them off completely from all municipal services.
-- Mayor John Norman
If people can't even drive their car onto your property, take a shower, use the toilet, you're pretty motivated to pony up.
The mayor said the taxation method has been successful, but he acknowledges not all Airbnb owners are pleased.
"I don't think some are happy about it, but it is what it is."
This is a pretty effective fix to unfair competition by airbnb hosts. The next question is, how can we apply the same thinking to uber and lyft?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 11 2019, @11:35AM (6 children)
Wow.. just... wow.
I haven't seen more -1 offtopic, cursing, swearing, yelling and screaming about a topic, related to the number of non-troll postings, in a long time here.
Why?
The city charges, via taxes, for sewer and water. My tax bill even shows the percentages paid. All across the US and Canada, cities charge more if you rent out rooms. Everywhere. In fact, it's the default.
You don't pay for a few years, you receive notice after notice, and what? Endless people in this thread (or just one nutjob) is complaining that some horrid evil has been laid upon those poor, poor people which didn't pay taxes.
Wtf?!
Quite literally, I can see no sane logic behind this response. Further, the driveway? In the US and Canada, you own your driveway... until the city does. All streets are actually wider than the pavement. The city owns (typically) the ditches along the side of streets, and about 1 to 2 metres of land. On that area, the city connects your land, with pavement, to the city street.
This land, owned by the city, is what is being dug up. They *own* that land. It's theirs, not yours.
And so yes, they can dig it up for failure to pay taxes.
What the hell is wrong with people in this thread? Are you all squatter deadbeat assholes?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Nuke on Wednesday September 11 2019, @12:04PM (4 children)
They are ranting because they use Airbnb, and they don't want the prices to go up.
It baffles me why anyone should logically think that Airbnb should be exempt from business taxes and other requirements (including safety provisions).
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Wednesday September 11 2019, @02:28PM (3 children)
While I agree with your sentiments, I don't agree that the city should have dug up the sewer+water. They want to get their back taxes, then take it to the courts.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 11 2019, @03:26PM
Courts take years. This is faster, because the mortgage bank will foreclose immediately, because the property is no longer fit to live in. Another kick in the ass for the owner.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 12 2019, @03:54PM (1 child)
The courts? They don't have to do that, why would they?
If you don't pay your tax, the municipality can simply sell it. Period. No court is required, although the process is very regimented.. including publishing notices in the paper, cool off periods, and even the ability to buy it back from the new owner, if you do pay.
The city is being *nice* here. They could have just sold the land for back-tax. No court required.
(I just wonder, how many people commenting in this thread have even the faintest clue how property ownership works.. because, it sure doesn't look like it...)
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday September 13 2019, @11:16PM
"If". Where's the evidence that these properties haven't paid their taxes?
Notice the use of the word "ownership". If some municipality can just dig up your utilities and render your property useless, then where's the ownership?
(Score: 2) by donkeyhotay on Wednesday September 11 2019, @04:05PM
You make some good points. There's a house two doors down from me that is an AirBnB. The "poor" owner drives a Maserati.