Since a blockbuster Detroit News report found Detroiters had their property overassessed by a total of $600 million between 2010 and 2017, frustration has been palpable. Calls for restitution, always familiar, are more frequent and louder. Solutions put forth by city government – new payment plan options and a $250 million bond proposal to demolish blighted homes – have been met with skepticism or turned down as solutions altogether.
Outlier invited residents, advocates, reporters and experts to come together and have a conversation about challenges and frustrations they face with Detroit housing, but with a focus on the solutions they would like to see in their community.
The following is a catalog of what we heard during that session, followed by a list of housing resources the attendees shared. Some of the ideas have been edited for length or clarity.
- Quicken Loans should give anyone who qualifies a zero interest home loan if they live in a home for 5 years. Taxes should be forgiven. Anyone who illegally lost their home should be given a Detroit Land Bank Authority home with a zero interest loan.
- The biggest home repair need we see is roofs. The cost to repair is very expensive and not met by existing grant or emergency programs.
- Retroactive property tax exemptions.
- A bond for home repair grants with no income limits because all residents and homeowners will be paying for this bond.
- Instead of paying demolition companies $15K to $32K in my neighborhood to demo buildings that could be rehabbed, give families a $20K grant for repairs. Train up citizens through Detroit Training Centers.
- Detroit Public Schools should partner with neighborhoods and builders/trade programs to teach housing rehab. Ann Arbor has a similar program. The money from the sale could be re-invested into the program. This can create safe walking routes, more vibrancy, affordable housing and graduates with skills.
- We need residents and the government to come together to develop an oversight committee so this never happens again.
- There are no consequences. There haven’t been consequences for decades for investors who buy up property, don’t keep it up and buy places again and again. There need to be consequences.
- We need restitution. We can’t overlook the tax foreclosure and Hardest Hit Funds being used for demolition. We need restitution before we can do anything else. We’re giving tax breaks to millionaires. Why don’t we have money for restitution?
- We should have restitution for individuals who were overcharged and the people who live in the neighborhoods that were decimated by tax foreclosure.
- We need to go after the property owners who are putting their assets into LLC’s.
- There is a home repair program in Milwaukee that is a zero percent loan. It doesn’t have to be repaid if you pass the home onto descendants. The loan only has to be repaid if you sell it.
- We have to find a way to stop the tax foreclosure process or have a moratorium.
- We need more public housing and better public housing. There are 90,000 properties already owned by the government, so that can be the solution.
- People have gone through a lot of financial trauma and need help and resources for that trauma.
Resources mentioned:
Race for Profit by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Growing Detroit’s African American Middle Class, a report by Detroit Future City
Modern day redlining reporting from Reveal
Reveal’s lawsuit against the Treasury Department to unmask some LLC’s buying up property