People Are Making Big Money Kicking Detroit Residents Out Of Their Homes (HBO)

In the last 15 years, one in three Detroit properties have been foreclosed on. When most people think of foreclosure, they think of people who can’t afford to pay off their mortgages.
But in Detroit, it’s often the result of people struggling to pay their property taxes. One big reason is that, in the years after the Great Recession, the city went bankrupt and failed to lower property assessments far enough to account for the impact of the housing crisis. While the value of residents’ homes fell, their taxes remained inordinately high, and tens of thousands of people fell so far behind on their inflated tax bills that the county seized their homes and sold them off at annual auctions.
In recent years, the city and county have lowered assessments and offered reduced interest rates to some homeowners. But they have no plans to stop punishing those who were overcharged in the past.
VICE News followed this year’s tax foreclosure auction and investigated how the county financially benefits from the process. As Detroit touts its comeback and celebrates its success in climbing out of the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history, many of the city’s residents remain on the brink of displacement.
This segment originally aired December 7, 2017, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.
Subscribe to VICE News here: bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News
Check out VICE News for more: vicenews.com
Follow VICE News here:
Facebook: / vicenews
Twitter: / vicenews
Tumblr: / vicenews
Instagram: / vicenews
More videos from the VICE network: www. vicevideo

[@VICENews]

VICE News followed this year’s tax foreclosure auction and investigated how the county financially benefits from the process.

[@MrEmpireBuilder0000]

Property tax is the country telling you you don't own that place. No matter what they say, you're only a glorified renter. All home owners are glorified renters. Nobody owns anything under this system.

[@joshsmit779]

You can buy a house for $3,000 in Detroit? That is like 1 month rent in SF

[@chumbly4857]

"People can't afford their houses, so we buy them and increase their rent."

[@Nicole44444]

I understand that everyone has to make a living somehow, but this just feels yucky, predatory, and depressing.

[@curtjrich15]

Man this bugs me. How can a city do this to people. 85% of houses assesed to highly? Isnt that fraud?

[@facecandystudio]

This is fraud and the whole damn city hall and mayor should go to jail. This is so wrong!

[@rogermarlin3758]

I'm guessing by now everyone in Detroit is homeless seeing things got so bad.

[@caroled5734]

This was so sad. I bought my home when I was 67 and my mortgage has gone up drastically in the last nine years because they’ve reassessed and raised my taxes so much. But at least I still have the hope of keeping my home. My heart breaks for these people.

[@boomborgoyari5781]

Detroit a perfect example of failed system.

[@heatherfeather9951]

The city is essentially trying to exercise eminent domain over the residents through taxation but without having to meet the constitutional standards.

[@KenJohnsonMusic]

This happened to my mom, but I was/am so done with Detroit, I simply moved her out of the state. In theory you could make a lot of money buy and renovating home in Detroit, but property crime there is so bad, that as you are fixing the place, the criminals are taking everything and if you move in and renovate and get it done, mostly the neighborhoods are so disgusting, what do you have? A nice house surrounded by urban blight. Nope. You can have the Motor City.

[@tthreepo4291]

If they have violated the state constitution by over taxing it seems to be a pretty clear line to a class action lawsuit against the city and county.

[@rcas350pilot8]

As I said before many times, the USA is not a good place to be poor or down on your luck. This is a great country if you are well off and this trend will just continue. Its getting to the point where you need to be well off to afford decent housing.

[@LokianGOP]

So even if you own the home..you don't own the home.

[@drivethrupoet]

This makes my blood boil. I live in a middle class neighborhood in an area that's doing really well compared to the rest of the US. But slowly all the homes are being purchased by investors from New York and Cali. The problem is that they don't care how the property is maintained. Not all renters are bad, but they aren't the ones paying the HOA dues and probably don't even realize there are guidelines. So the yards are no longer kept, there are too many vehicles parked in the street and exterior needing paint, etc. Plus, if too many properties become rentals (non-primary residences) eventually new buyers in the neighborhood won't be able to get FHA loans. Altogether they're killing our property values. None of these investors give a f**k about anyone and never let them fool you otherwise.

[@albertawheat6832]

A wise man once said " when a person is born, he gets a ticket to the freak show. But when a person is born in the United States of America...You get a front row seat." ~ George Carlin ~

[@timwhiting6721]

Wow, no wonder Detroit is dying. That's so crooked to do to people.

[@newnana9070]

How is the City and the County trying to help these homeowners that were over taxed??????????

[@erichardric4795]

After all the middle and low income families lose their homes and move away, who is Detroit going to get to rent these homes?