Dear mom and dad,
As per our conversation on Tuesday, Aug 12, 2008;
David and I both agree that we do not wish to have any money acquired from the sale of this house on 2237 Edward Street We will sign a contract with you stating this if you like.
We do want one of two things to happen:
A) to take my name off the house title;
or
B) to have you provide a signed letter that states David and I will not be held responsible for or charged for income tax, fees or anything related to the house, for moving out if we buy another house; and that you will be responsible for any income tax if we are charged for it on the grounds that we were inadequately informed of the nature of the financial risks involved when I agreed to let you use my name on the title. Additionally, if we are charged for the Capital Gains on the house, we will be reimbursed with whatever money is available from the sale on the house.
I don't like my name being on the title of the house. When I was signing that contract (which you told me on Tuesday Aug 12 was for if I passed away the house would go to you and dad), I thought it was to remove my name off the house. We have been paying you cash for 'rent' every month, which I assume is so that you don't have to report the income earned. As you have told me, on more than one occasion, this is the case with our payments (which we have been calling 'rent'), as well as other rent you have been collecting from other rental properties over a period of years. This concerns me as to whether I have been involved in a transaction that is possibly illegal, but at best seems unethical. I am reminded my brother was coerced into writing a letter to the Government taking blame for your actions in a similar situation, and I do not want to end up in a similar position or worse.
I also do not like being in the position where you feel it is appropriate as our landlady or my mother to tell us we have to move our furniture to the basement or wait until it is convenient for you before we move out. I do appreciate that you mentioned on your last voicemail Fri Aug 15th, that you changed your mind on both these points. However I would rather send this message as it explains my thoughts in their entirety. I know even before sitting down and looking at the paperwork that I am steadfast and stalwart about not wanting involvement in the title of the house.
Our position still stands: If we find a house we want to move into, we want to move out when it is convenient for us. We have not been living here for free, so I think that should remove any family obligation, and necessary repairs have not been made when appropriate, so I think that should remove any tenant obligation. There have also been times when, once repairs were done, they were either done without permits or done improperly, as in the case with the electrical and recurring mold in the house. It is clear this house is in no way my property in your mind, therefore I should not incur any responsibility for it, nor benefit from its sale. Additionally the payments I've been making to you (that we have been referring to as 'rent') as well as the payments you have been receiving from other tenants while I wasn’t living there, go towards the repairs and income tax/property taxes.
There are several health reasons I wish to get out of the house. One, there is black mold which is consistently covered up when it comes through the walls or ceiling, but is never thoroughly removed (so it grows back). Another is the unfinished basement below is hard to keep clean and free of mildew and dust. These are not acceptable health risks anymore, and never should have been acceptable to us or you.
The main reason we want to move out of the house, however, is because of our relationship. I feel like there have been several times where my relationship to you as a tenant has been neglected in a way it would not have been if I was not your daughter, and I do not understand why you would pay less attention, not more, to these issues. For instance, it took over a year for you to fix the porch and the bathroom. If I was not your daughter, I would have been able to take these issues to the Rentalsman or simply move out. Because I have allergies and asthma, I should only have had to bring it up once, and you, both aware of and concerned about my health, would have understood it was necessary to address this issue quickly. I was and am perplexed that even though I brought it up several times, you did not immediately fix at least the bathroom which was full of black mold and used daily. The porch also had mold in it and was falling down. It seemed that it was only when Joline was coming down to visit that you finally took action. After that, I was reluctant to report even minor issues because I figured you would respond the same way. I do not understand why you did not act on this for so long and I find this increasingly difficult to ignore. And then when I did not report minor repairs, I was chastised and told to repair them myself. Even though a landlord is supposed to pay for repairs, I did not ask for reimbursement in the interests of keeping the peace. But perhaps that is because in some cases, it is in your mind that I do own the house in part, so I should pay for the repairs. This inconsistency is another reason I would like to live independently.
When David and I move out, I hope our relationship may improve. I don’t know how that will happen without significant changes in the way we communicate and understand each other. I know I need to be more assertive, but I also feel you need to be more attentive to my needs and less concerned about this real estate transaction. I feel angry and hurt and manipulated.
For your convenience, I have provided research from a number of resources in regards to value of the house and various angles of expertise about the situation David and I are currently in. I would appreciate a thought-out reply to this letter when it is convenient for you.
-Holly
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The additional information we have collected from various resources & expertise:
Updated Aug 19, 2008
798-0641: Property Management: Sk Gov’t Land Registry -- I can sign an Affidavit of Identity because my name still shows as my maiden name on the Title, and I can sign a title transfer that has to be co-signed by the other people on the Title. http://www.isc.ca/
-- [FULL NAMES & CERTIFICATE NUMBERS]
With the assistance of Property Management, I have prepared for a package that all we all have to sign. It needs to be taken to 1301 1st Ave, between Broad and Winnipeg. There are some pages that we need to have signed and witnessed by a Notary Public/Commissioner/Jurat. I would have done this on my own if it was only me who had to sign the papers. I have copies of everything.
Land Registry Packet Cover Page
Application for Transfer (Part II)
Transfer Authorization (Two Individuals Signing)
Titles Affidavit of Value (2 copies; 1 for land, one for minerals)
Affidavit of Identity for Individual Change of Name (stamped by a Commissioner)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ According to the City of Regina website... http://www2.regina.ca/search/index.htm (click on Property Search>>1. Street Address/Account Number >> type in 1137 // Edward St >> Search
If you look at the above link you will find that this was what the house assessments were in 2002 & 2008 -- Fair Value: $67,500/Assessed Value: $47,200; there appears to be no change to this value as of 2008.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 777-7233: Property Taxes for the house this year: paid Jun 2nd/08 were $1,673.92
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Spoke to a Financial Advisor (Ryan Stephenson) who advised us that what you are doing is probably tax evasion. I was told that we (Dad, you and I) all own 1/3rd of the property. This means, technically, whatever the house is sold for, we would be entitled to a 1/3rd of the house. Apparently, because you have been paying for repairs, you feel that you are owed some of the money that would be owed to us. However we have been living in the house for about 5 years and have been paying $100-$700 (you have been paying for our Energy bill), plus before I was married I lived here on my own and made payments of $400 or more per month before and while I was attending university. Of course there is no record of this because it was all paid in cash. We would rather not have any of the money associated with this house.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ An accountant advised us that if you are found out by Revenue Canada that we would also be affected as my name is on the Land Title. This could ruin us both financially. In fact we could even be arrested and put in jail for this.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Realtor: Assessed the market value on this house Sun Aug 24th. Because it only has 1 bathroom and 1 bedroom (and especially because the bathroom isn’t upstairs next to the bedroom), he feels it would be reasonable to start selling this house at $195,000 and if there were no offers after three weeks bring it down some more. He saw that the braces on the basement were done (he said there should be an engineering permit/paperwork on it, but if not an engineer would need to inspect it), the electrical would have to run on their own breakers/fuses instead of having two or more lines on the same fuse, and there was new water/sewer, the area is really, really nice except perhaps for the traffic noise. He gave us a list of similar type houses with similar square footage and they run from $79,900 (1 bedroom/2 bathroom & farther out from the core of the Cathedral area) up to $289,900 (for a house closer to the core of Cath Area & 3 bdrm/2 bthrm).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ According to Scotia Bank, I do not appear on the mortgage of this house as they cannot find any information on me. I was advised that if my name did not appear on the account, because of the privacy laws, it would be better if my parents called in to request information.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lawyer: (as yet to have arranged an appointment).
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As it was I never did actually send this to my parents. I sure wanted to, but it wouldn't have done me any good. lol
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