An Iranian man living and working in Metro Vancouver says the new foreign buyer real estate tax has upended his dream of owning a home.
Hamed Ahmadi, who arrived from Iran to Vancouver in 2012 to get his PhD from the University of British Columbia, found a $360,000 condo with his girlfriend in Coquitlam back in May.
"I balanced my budget according to that," he told CTV Vancouver.
But with the implementation of the foreign buyer tax earlier this week, he has to pay an extra $54,000 on top of the $18,000 due as part of his down payment by Friday.
If he fails to do so, he would forfeit his $18,000 deposit and face the threat of a lawsuit from the property seller.
Adding to Ahmadi's woes, he's months away from receiving a permanent resident status and has a contract with BC Hydro.
"I have no options. I cannot close the deal because I don't have the money and I cannot leave the deal because then I'll be sued for that," he said. "So I'm just left high and dry. I don't know what to do at this time."
Ahmadi had saved money from winning awards while studying at UBC as well as money he received from his family back in Iran.
The B.C. government's new foreign buyer tax came into effect on Tuesday with the aim of making housing more affordable for middle-class property buyers. It places a 15 per cent property transfer tax on foreign nationals who buy residential real estate in Metro Vancouver.
Real estate officials had called on the government to exclude deals in the process of being completed from the tax, but to no avail.
The provincial opposition NDP's spokesman for housing says the situation would have been avoidable if the Liberals had accepted amendments from the opposition.
"It's heartbreaking, it's preventable, it's bad policy and the government could fix it if they wanted to," said MLA Dave Eby.
Eby says the provincial government could write a regulation that would exempt people who find themselves in a situation like Ahmadi, and hopes that the government chooses to do so.
"Any time you have a tax that starts on a certain day and is only on transactions, there are loopholes that come in through that and there are additional victims you don't want," he said.
B.C. Liberal cabinet member Andrew Wilkinson advised people who find themselves in a situation similar to Ahmadi should seek legal advice.
With the deadline fast approaching, Ahmadi says he's unsure how to respond to his housing crisis.
"I have never been this hopeless in my life. I've been through a lot but I have never been this hopeless," he said.
With a report from CTV Vancouver's Shannon Paterson
