HOME FORFEITED TO B.C. GOV'T

First Vancouver House To Be Seized Under The Act

The home was a menace to its neighbourhood -- a flophouse for
criminals of all stripes -- until Vancouver police kicked its
homeowner to the curb.

The boarded-up home at 2780 East 22nd Ave. is Vancouver's first to be
forfeited to the B.C. government under legislation intended to protect
neighbourhoods from unscrupulous homeowners.

"Police were called to this house more than 500 times and residents in
the area felt fearful and harassed, their safety jeopardized by
illegal activities at the property," Solicitor-General Kash Heed said
Friday after announcing the seizure.

Police received more than 500 complaints about the "bawdy house" since
2004 and made arrests for assaults, drug-dealing, prostitution,
weapons- and property-related crimes.

"It was one of those houses where officers could literally sit out
front of it and write their reports and catch people coming and going.
It was unbelievable," said Vancouver police spokesman Const. Lindsey
Houghton.

Last year, Consts. Mike Drummond and John Gibbons, who patrolled the
area, took it upon themselves to shut down the problematic premise --
the city's worst for volume of calls -- for good. But while the owner,
40-year-old Marianne Sullivan, had previous convictions and was known
to police for prostitution, the Crown prosecution office didn't think
there was enough evidence to seize the home through the criminal courts.

Last April, the officers forwarded the file to the Civil Forfeiture
Office in Victoria, where the executive director and staff deemed the
home had been operated as an instrument of unlawful activity. The home
became the 31st in Vancouver to be referred to the Civil Forfeiture
Office since last year and the first to be officially seized.

Houghton said it's his understanding the house should be on the market
as soon as this week.

The property was last assessed at $533,000, but the provincial
government has yet to determine a selling price.

Proceeds of the sale are paid to the government's civil-forfeiture
account, which is used to support the program and grants to victims
and community crime prevention across B.C.

Houghton said the department will continue to use the legislation to
free taxpayers burdened by wasted police resources and neighbourhoods
dealing with similar drug, weapons and prostitution dens.

"We will take that asset from the criminal's hands, and that house
that is being used for a criminal purpose, and we'll turn it into
something positive through the Civil Forfeiture Office.

"I really think this is a win-win for everybody," Houghton said.