A Hong Kong woman who says she bought a house in Richmond, B.C. and put it in her boyfriend’s name to dodge B.C.’s 15 per cent foreign buyers’ tax, is suing the now ex-boyfriend to get the house back.
The woman says she’s living a relationship nightmare trying to move her ex-boyfriend out of the home she claims she paid for, documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court claim.
The only problem: his name is on the land title and the mortgage.
WATCH: Coverage of foreign buyers taxes on Globalnews.ca
Jennie Wu and Johnny Chu began dating in the fall of 2016. Chu, a flight attendant, met Wu in the business section of a flight between Hong Kong and Vancouver.
Wu, a Hong Kong businesswoman, claimed she frequently travels to Vancouver for work and wanted to own a home in the region so that she had a place to live while in town.
But Wu, who lives in Hong Kong, didn’t want to pay B.C.’s 15 per cent foreign buyers tax, court documents said.
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Chu is from Richmond, and Wu claims he helped her buy a home in the city by putting the land title and mortgage under his name.
Online real estate listings described a property at the same address as a two-storey home with a triple garage, five bathrooms and four bedrooms.
But Wu claimed that, despite never being named in the paperwork, she paid for the home and all associated costs — including this year’s property taxes — with her own cash.
According to Wu’s suit, Chu has lived in the home since she allegedly bought it.
The hitch? The couple broke up in August, and Wu claimed Chu is still living in the home and refuses to leave or transfer the property back to her, court documents said.
Despite the dispute, Wu claims she still stays in the house while visiting Canada, though the pair does not sleep together, but in separate beds.
Wu is suing Chu in BC Supreme Court and wants exclusive possession of the home and compensation for unlawful occupation of the property.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.