{"id":2723,"date":"2020-01-17T23:20:01","date_gmt":"2020-01-17T20:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/?p=2723"},"modified":"2020-01-23T01:35:12","modified_gmt":"2020-01-22T22:35:12","slug":"wayne-county-foreclosures-reduce-over-years-of-work-in-the-treasurers-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wayne-county-foreclosures-reduce-over-years-of-work-in-the-treasurers-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Wayne County Foreclosures reduce over years of work in the Treasurer\u2019s Office"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Simon Albaugh – YAN –<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the Wayne County Treasurer\u2019s Office, there were around 250 homes in Hamtramck in the process of Tax Foreclosure in 2019.<\/p>\n

\"\"That\u2019s 250 families, couples and people who are at least three years behind on their taxes. And those 250 people could lose their homes, with the only hope being to buy them back from a County Auction.
\nBut in Detroit and its surrounding communities, there\u2019s a lot of people who think that these auctions have been doing more harm than good. According to research published in August by Joshua Akers and Eric Seymour for University of Michigan Dearborn, around 90% of homes were bought in bulk. Meaning that those homes were either bought by an investor or a land speculator.
\nWayne County has thousands of homes at risk of foreclosure each year. But in the past few years, the County Treasurer\u2019s Office has focused on reducing these numbers.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve been able to work a lot on Tax Foreclosure prevention,\u201d said Wayne County Treasurer Eric Sabree. \u201cAnd we\u2019ve been able to get those foreclosures down by 85%.\u201d
\nWhile foreclosures were a big issue between 2005 and 2015, land speculators appeared to dominate the County Auctions. Akers and Seymour analyzed the bulk-buyers\u2019 effect on Detroit and some of its surrounding communities.
\nLand speculation in Detroit may have made some problems for the city much worse. Akers and Seymour show in their research that homes bought by land speculators and investors have high rates of evictions, with 60% of homes going through two or more evictions.
\nBut what brings the issue to the forefront of Wayne County\u2019s interest is what the UofM Dearborn Researchers found to be the eventual demise of many homes bought in speculation. Since speculators can walk away from properties that are too dilapidated or run down for use, they can send the bill for demolition back to the county.
\nAkers and Seymour estimated that Wayne County has spent $34 million on demolishing homes bought by land speculators. This doesn\u2019t account for the state of neighborhoods where neglected properties were left standing for years.
\nThe County Treasurer\u2019s Office has worked to slow the foreclosure of homes. They\u2019ve depended on programs that help people who own the properties they live in. Since a Tax Foreclosure is dependent on taxes owed for three years or more, Sabree and his office reduced interest rates. What used to be 18% interest on taxes owed has gone down to 6%.
\n\u201cIf you\u2019re behind on your taxes and you\u2019re paying 18% interest rate every year, that\u2019s worse than some credit cards,\u201d Sabree said.
\nHelping people get payments within their means wasn\u2019t the only challenge. In the County Treasurer\u2019s Office, they found that many people don\u2019t respond to the requests for payment. So at the recommendation of college interns, they set up a network for automated text messages.
\n\u201c[College Interns] were helping us all with making phone calls, sending letters, knocking on doors,\u201d Sabree said. \u201cThey said no, no, no. If you want to reach people, you have to text them. Because this old-fashioned way is not working.\u201d
\nSabree calls this keeping up with the times. Many medical offices, utilities and cell phone companies already do this, Sabree pointed out. But this hasn\u2019t been the only outreach. The County Treasurer\u2019s Office works with faith-based leaders to help reach people.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s the key,\u201d Sabree said. \u201cThat human contact. Making contact with people and letting them understand. Because a lot of times, people have problems. Some of them are mentally ill. Some of them are very sick. Some of them don\u2019t understand. Some people can\u2019t read. So we\u2019ve got all of them have issues. So if we can reach them and communicate with them, then I think we can solve the problem.\u201d
\nBack in 2016, Hamtramck had around 420 homes in the process of Tax Foreclosure, according to the Wayne County Treasurer\u2019s Office. For one city alone, the number of homes in Tax Foreclosure has been reduced by almost half.
\nEven if a home is in the process of Tax Foreclosure, the County still works to get people\u2019s homes back. They can initiate payment plans, work with a different interest rate. When the home is already sold in a tax auction, they can even get their home back if they get the money for back taxes together.
\n\u201cOur policy since 2014 has been if an owner-occupied property or owner loses their property, gets all the money to pay their back taxes, then we will let them redeem their property,\u201d Sabree said. \u201cEven if it sells in the auction.\u201d
\nBut once the deed is issued to the new owner, there\u2019s nothing that can be done.
\nFor the future, Eric Sabree sees a lot of Wayne County. He talked about its geography, its institutions and its people. But ultimately, it\u2019s his ability to take down foreclosures that he seems most excited about.<\/p>\n

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