The City of Quebec threatens to seize two buildings of Éric Duhaime for unpaid taxes

Threatened to have two buildings seized for non-payment of municipal taxes, Éric Duhaime assured Friday that he was going to resolve the situation, after our Bureau of investigation told him that he had a debt of more than $14,000. to the City of Quebec.

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According to documents we consulted, the City is claiming more than $14,000 from the leader of the PCQ, in connection with two buildings.

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The City claims that there has been a payment default of exactly $12,363.39 since 2020, in relation to a semi-detached house that Éric Duhaime owns in the Montcalm district, near Grande Allée. Duhaime had purchased this property for $600,000 in 2018.

As owner, the leader of the PCQ also has a debt of $ 1,848.92, an amount unpaid since 2021 in connection with a building located not far from the Hôpital du Saint-Sacrement.

Mr. Duhaime had acquired this property for $281,000 in 2020.

Legal obligation

“Municipalities have a legal obligation to collect taxes […]. The process of selling immovables for non-payment of taxes constitutes a regular collection procedure in the City of Quebec,” explains the City’s Finance Department in a decision-making summary.

The sums were still due as of August 29, indicates the Service des finances.

If the tax bills are not paid within the next year, the City of Quebec will become the owner of Éric Duhaime’s buildings “irrevocably”.

» Not up to date «

Contacted Friday afternoon to find out if he wanted to comment, Éric Duhaime replied by text message: “Yes. It is the tenant who must pay the taxes. I am not aware. Who should I contact ? »

A little later, his press officer Cédric Lapointe sent us the following statement: « Mr. Duhaime informs me that he contacted his tenant as soon as he found out, he immediately came to the office district to pay the amount due. Thank you for letting us know about this blunder. »

Disadvantage

Two rental real estate experts whom we contacted, who requested anonymity so as not to get involved in the election campaign, explained to us that they had “never seen” a lease that provides for the tenant to pay municipal taxes.

“I don’t understand why a landlord would deduct municipal taxes from the monthly rent. It would be very disadvantaged at the time of the resale, because the amount of the rent would be very low , explains one of them.

According to Cédric Lapointe, the leader of the PCQ has reached an agreement with his tenant which provides that the latter « pays electricity, taxes and cable ».

Finally, in the evening, Éric Duhaime clarified that his tenant’s situation concerned “90% of the bill” unpaid. And the rest of his debt? He did not answer any further questions.

More than a thousand other addresses are also targeted by the City of Quebec in the same procedure. If the City becomes the owner of the buildings, it resells them to try to recover its debt.

Conflicts

This is not the first time that Éric Duhaime has had problems with the City of Quebec as an owner.

In August 2018, Radio-Canada reported that Mr. Duhaime had received a notice of violation from the City “because a building that belongs to him was used for temporary rental without having the necessary permit”.

According to Radio-Canada, the file was closed after the rental ad was removed from the Airbnb site.

– With the collaboration of Philippe Langlois and Gabriel Côté

Do you have information of public interest in connection with the candidates for the elections? Contact me confidentially at jean-louis.fortin@quebecormedia.com.