"...a tragic and extreme version of a familiar pattern"
October 24, 2014 11:26 AM Subscribe
One-Fifth of Detroit's Population Could Lose Their Homes — Many families could stay put for just a few hundred dollars, if only they knew how to work the system. (SLAtlantic)
To make room for FEWER, BIGGER occupied houses, of course.
posted by tonycpsu at 11:29 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by tonycpsu at 11:29 AM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
“If they can’t afford to pay their taxes, they really can’t afford to own a home. Therefore rather than being a homeowner, they should be a renter,” says Szymanski, the chief deputy treasurer.
He said as he twirled his mustache and donned his top hat and cape.
posted by boubelium at 11:42 AM on October 24, 2014 [13 favorites]
He said as he twirled his mustache and donned his top hat and cape.
posted by boubelium at 11:42 AM on October 24, 2014 [13 favorites]
They're clearly just using the tax thing to push out poor black families. It's disgusting.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:44 AM on October 24, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:44 AM on October 24, 2014 [8 favorites]
There's a big scam that's been going on in DC along the same lines. I seem to remember one particular lawyer being tied to an amazing amount of these tax lien purchases. some of which happened under dubious circumstances
Washington Post - Left With Nothing
Washington Post - Suspicious Bidding?
Read these for the basic business model. So much of life these days seems to be becoming a radicalising experience despite the basic moderate middle I was born to in middle class, midwestern mid-20th century America.
posted by C.A.S. at 11:44 AM on October 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
Washington Post - Left With Nothing
Washington Post - Suspicious Bidding?
Read these for the basic business model. So much of life these days seems to be becoming a radicalising experience despite the basic moderate middle I was born to in middle class, midwestern mid-20th century America.
posted by C.A.S. at 11:44 AM on October 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
god, I wish we could throw a revolution. Just a little one, nothing fancy.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:45 AM on October 24, 2014 [15 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:45 AM on October 24, 2014 [15 favorites]
Meanwhile, a mystery bidder is offering to buy 6,000 foreclosed homes in Detroit for $3.2MM.
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:59 AM on October 24, 2014
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:59 AM on October 24, 2014
“If they can’t afford to pay their taxes, they really can’t afford to own a home. Therefore rather than being a homeowner, they should be a renter,” says Szymanski, the chief deputy treasurer.
Because obviously if you can't scrape up a few hundred bucks for delinquent taxes coming up with utility deposits and first and last months rent will be a no-brainer.
posted by COD at 12:06 PM on October 24, 2014 [15 favorites]
Because obviously if you can't scrape up a few hundred bucks for delinquent taxes coming up with utility deposits and first and last months rent will be a no-brainer.
posted by COD at 12:06 PM on October 24, 2014 [15 favorites]
Man, how much of a profiteer do you have to be to bid in a forced auction on someone's occupied family home?
posted by threeants at 12:08 PM on October 24, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by threeants at 12:08 PM on October 24, 2014 [7 favorites]
Well, as stated in the link it could be some kind of Strike Debt type things where the bidder simply gives the people back their homes, but it's troubling that we don't know that for certain yet.
posted by tonycpsu at 12:12 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by tonycpsu at 12:12 PM on October 24, 2014
The 'mystery bidder' is a local nonprofit that will use some of the parcels for urban agriculture and tear down the vast majority of the rest.
posted by wikipedia brown boy detective at 12:23 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by wikipedia brown boy detective at 12:23 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Man, how much of a profiteer do you have to be to bid in a forced auction on someone's occupied family home?
I knew a guy who used to go around to pre-foreclosure properties & talk the occupants into a short sale for a little cash consideration. That's a hell of a lot nicer treatment than the banks or the city would probably give. This is kind of a don't hate the player, hate the game situation.
posted by BrotherCaine at 12:28 PM on October 24, 2014
I knew a guy who used to go around to pre-foreclosure properties & talk the occupants into a short sale for a little cash consideration. That's a hell of a lot nicer treatment than the banks or the city would probably give. This is kind of a don't hate the player, hate the game situation.
posted by BrotherCaine at 12:28 PM on October 24, 2014
tonycpsu: sorry, it's not something I can source, just something I've heard around the grapevine and fits with the location of some of the properties, and a local nonprofit that's had eyes on the near West Side for a while.
posted by wikipedia brown boy detective at 12:41 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by wikipedia brown boy detective at 12:41 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Man, how much of a profiteer do you have to be to bid in a forced auction for someone's occupied family home?
Certain classic signs of psychopathy might be helpful when, say, working at a bailed-out bank that's buying tax liens , e.g. a lack of empathy and remorse, consistently self-interested decisions despite ethical conflicts, persistent focus on self-gratification at others' expense. One social study by a Canadian forensic psychologist estimated that while about 1% of the general population could be categorized as on the psychopathic side of the spectrum, in the financial industry the prevalence was ten times that.
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:44 PM on October 24, 2014 [6 favorites]
Certain classic signs of psychopathy might be helpful when, say, working at a bailed-out bank that's buying tax liens , e.g. a lack of empathy and remorse, consistently self-interested decisions despite ethical conflicts, persistent focus on self-gratification at others' expense. One social study by a Canadian forensic psychologist estimated that while about 1% of the general population could be categorized as on the psychopathic side of the spectrum, in the financial industry the prevalence was ten times that.
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:44 PM on October 24, 2014 [6 favorites]
There's a big scam that's been going on in DC along the same lines.
Sounds like there may be something to "The Plan." See also, previously on the blue. (More on McKee.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:48 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Sounds like there may be something to "The Plan." See also, previously on the blue. (More on McKee.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:48 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
Detroit will be the neo-liberal corporate city state utopia of the future. Presently, though, the technocrats need to clear the way for their grand vision; you know, scrub the city clean so to speak. If it requires the further crushing of Detroit's current residents into dust, so be it.
Also, if you are so inclined, take a look at this flawed but interesting article about gentrification and the ways in which it is achieved, from the Jacobin - "Gentrification isn’t a cultural phenomenon — it’s a class offensive by powerful capitalists".
posted by nikoniko at 1:00 PM on October 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
Also, if you are so inclined, take a look at this flawed but interesting article about gentrification and the ways in which it is achieved, from the Jacobin - "Gentrification isn’t a cultural phenomenon — it’s a class offensive by powerful capitalists".
posted by nikoniko at 1:00 PM on October 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
Sounds like there may be something to "The Plan."
Man, the circumstances of black people living in our nation's capital city would be considered over-the-top ham-handed symbolism in a dystopian novel. "Yes, we get it, the USA has a legacy of racism, but isn't the whole Washington D.C. stuff a little too on the nose? Really? The underclass in the capital city are in a special zone that doesn't get to vote for president or have any representation in Congress?"
posted by straight at 1:06 PM on October 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
Man, the circumstances of black people living in our nation's capital city would be considered over-the-top ham-handed symbolism in a dystopian novel. "Yes, we get it, the USA has a legacy of racism, but isn't the whole Washington D.C. stuff a little too on the nose? Really? The underclass in the capital city are in a special zone that doesn't get to vote for president or have any representation in Congress?"
posted by straight at 1:06 PM on October 24, 2014 [5 favorites]
Talking about the "rebirth" of Detroit the other day, my conclusion was that, as they drive less wealthy people from the city, they really should implement a shuttle service to Flint (just "to", not "to and from"), because Flint will NEVER be "reborn"... and all these less wealthy folks can find a place to live.
The Ilitchs will be comfortable with all that new space they will have in "The D".
posted by HuronBob at 1:10 PM on October 24, 2014
The Ilitchs will be comfortable with all that new space they will have in "The D".
posted by HuronBob at 1:10 PM on October 24, 2014
The connection between these tax bills and the water bill crisis (which was discussed here some months back) is depressing.
posted by Dip Flash at 1:16 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Dip Flash at 1:16 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
The connection between these tax bills and the water bill crisis (which was discussed here some months back) is depressing.
Every FPP about Detroit on Metafilter seems to be depressing.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 1:18 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Every FPP about Detroit on Metafilter seems to be depressing.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 1:18 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
“If they can’t afford to pay their taxes, they really can’t afford to own a home. Therefore rather than being a homeowner, they should be a renter,” says Szymanski, the chief deputy treasurer.
Rent where exactly? Don't get me wrong, there are properties for rent in Midtown and Downtown Detroit, but they are very expensive. I say this as a person who has lived in a rental property in Midtown all my life. There aren’t many rental properties anywhere else in the city. Your choices are buy a house that you can barely afford, or be on the street. I would like to think that Szymanski, as the chief deputy treasurer, would have a better understanding of the dynamics of this than I do, but I just don't see how renting in Detroit would currently be possible on anything but a small scale.
posted by Shouraku at 1:47 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Rent where exactly? Don't get me wrong, there are properties for rent in Midtown and Downtown Detroit, but they are very expensive. I say this as a person who has lived in a rental property in Midtown all my life. There aren’t many rental properties anywhere else in the city. Your choices are buy a house that you can barely afford, or be on the street. I would like to think that Szymanski, as the chief deputy treasurer, would have a better understanding of the dynamics of this than I do, but I just don't see how renting in Detroit would currently be possible on anything but a small scale.
posted by Shouraku at 1:47 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
I just reached out to UCHC to see if there was anything I could do. They don't seem to have anything besides the most basic website up, and if there's a failure to let people know their options, then being able to both educate and fundraise through the site would be important and I think I could help them with that or at least put them in touch with people local to them who could.
posted by klangklangston at 1:52 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by klangklangston at 1:52 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
FTA: “Do you think they are going to take my home away from me?” Brown asks, breaking down in tears. A few feet from her lies her brother, sleeping. He has just come back from the hospital after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. Brown herself suffers from arthritis and has mobility issues. A knee-replacement surgery gone wrong last year left her with one leg shorter than the other.
“If they kick us out, we won’t have anywhere to go. We will have to go to a shelter. I don’t want to go to a shelter. I want to stay in my home,” she says.
They just need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
posted by marienbad at 2:41 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
“If they kick us out, we won’t have anywhere to go. We will have to go to a shelter. I don’t want to go to a shelter. I want to stay in my home,” she says.
They just need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
posted by marienbad at 2:41 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Rent where exactly?
In London, property developers and Councils call this part of the process decanting. They'll live where they're sent, up to hundreds of miles away (if they can find an excuse to shift people across state lines, maybe thousands).
Freedom is a function of money.
posted by Grangousier at 2:42 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
In London, property developers and Councils call this part of the process decanting. They'll live where they're sent, up to hundreds of miles away (if they can find an excuse to shift people across state lines, maybe thousands).
Freedom is a function of money.
posted by Grangousier at 2:42 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
HOLY FUCKING HELL
FTA - " Two years ago, a 96-year-old woman who was taking care of her 65-year-old disabled daughter was, unbeknownst to her, foreclosed on. Her house was bought by a speculator at auction for just $1,300, Phillips says. The following January, the new owner of her former house threatened her with eviction but offered to sell her the house back for $19,000. With the help of Phillips and his team, who managed to negotiate the price down a little, the house was eventually sold back to its original elderly occupant and daughter at a price of $13,000. This is common practice, Phillips says, with many houses being bought at auction by “investors” and sold back to poorly informed occupants at inflated prices—five to 10 times that of the auction sale."
posted by marienbad at 2:48 PM on October 24, 2014 [11 favorites]
FTA - " Two years ago, a 96-year-old woman who was taking care of her 65-year-old disabled daughter was, unbeknownst to her, foreclosed on. Her house was bought by a speculator at auction for just $1,300, Phillips says. The following January, the new owner of her former house threatened her with eviction but offered to sell her the house back for $19,000. With the help of Phillips and his team, who managed to negotiate the price down a little, the house was eventually sold back to its original elderly occupant and daughter at a price of $13,000. This is common practice, Phillips says, with many houses being bought at auction by “investors” and sold back to poorly informed occupants at inflated prices—five to 10 times that of the auction sale."
posted by marienbad at 2:48 PM on October 24, 2014 [11 favorites]
There aren’t many rental properties anywhere else in the city.
There's quite a few houses for rent outside of Downtown/Midtown. Not so many apartments, but Detroit has a remarkably high proportion of single family homes, particularly ones built in the 1950s.
posted by wikipedia brown boy detective at 3:29 PM on October 24, 2014
There's quite a few houses for rent outside of Downtown/Midtown. Not so many apartments, but Detroit has a remarkably high proportion of single family homes, particularly ones built in the 1950s.
posted by wikipedia brown boy detective at 3:29 PM on October 24, 2014
DC passed an amendment in 2013 to mitigate the tax lien sale issue.
posted by zennie at 8:43 PM on October 24, 2014
posted by zennie at 8:43 PM on October 24, 2014
In at least some places, tax liens cannot lead to foreclosure on a person's primary residence. What happens is that the lien must be paid before the property can transfer to a new owner, so when it is sold or the owner dies the taxing entity gets their money, yet it doesn't force people out onto the street and lead to a raft of abandoned property.
posted by wierdo at 8:09 AM on October 25, 2014
posted by wierdo at 8:09 AM on October 25, 2014
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