
Booting Detroit residents out of foreclosed homes must end - rmason
http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/john-gallagher/2017/10/31/wayne-county-tax-auction-foreclosure/816376001/
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rmason
Just to give a little background for those not in Michigan:

1\. There's a law that lets homeowners over 65 not pay taxes at all. But few
seniors know about it or even how to apply so they lose their homes.

2\. Property values in Detroit collapsed after 2008 and have yet to recover.
But the city never redid the valuations so you have homes being taxed at four
to six times their actual value. But to get valuations appealed you need to
hire a lawyer. So as a result landlords buy dozens of properties, then have
their taxes slashed by up to 80% and rent them out sometimes to the same
person who owned the house originally. Or sometimes the house burns, they
collect the insurance policy and go away.

The policy is so lucrative for Wayne county they're resistant to changing it.
They even refused a foundation's money that offered to buy 600 homes and work
with the owners on a payment plan.

