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| This week, thousands of properties in Detroit went from private to government ownership due to a seldom heard-of foreclosure process called “reversion.”
Detroit has been plagued by foreclosures and other issues with properties in recent years, such as the water shut-offs that left many without utilities last year. This year almost 20,000 properties were subject to reversion, in which properties purchased at tax foreclosure auctions still owe back taxes. Because this isn’t a well-known expectation among new homeowners, many suddenly find themselves receiving a foreclosure notice just a few months after purchasing the home. Normally, a property is only subject to tax foreclosure if three years’ worth of taxes are unpaid. However, for repeat offenders, so to speak, property owners can receive this notice within just 18 months. How are they already behind on their taxes? The foreclosed properties at auction are already technically 12 months behind on their taxes. Within six months, the county marks the taxes as unpaid, which “reverts” the property back to foreclosed status. The problem, of course, is that the property is already owned, and those who may have purchased the home from a third party may not even see a foreclosure notice. This doesn’t just spell trouble for homeowners but for property managers, as well. As they collect rent from tenants, they also may have to pay between 8% and 10% of that rental rate to a property management company; suddenly owing unexpected taxes can make things difficult for those who own multiple previously foreclosed properties. In fact, owning such properties is becoming increasingly common as more investors turn to real estate investment trusts (REITs). Retirees, especially, are investing in property rather than traditional bonds because they pay larger dividends, according to CNNMoney. But no matter which type of property Detroit residents have purchased at a foreclosure auction, the reversion notice can come as a shock, arriving less than one year after they received their deeds. Fortunately, the amounts owed are fairly low, and most property owners are able to pay the bills once they come in. Of more than 9,000 properties in Detroit that faced reversion on May 26, none owed taxes in 2013 and had been acquired that year; as of now, they owed an average of just $1,780, and more than 600 of them owed just $500 or less. |
Category: Uncategorized
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Buying a Foreclosed Home in Detroit? Property Owners Should Know About This Little-Known Tax Rule First
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Detroit Mayor Proposes Program To Lease Out 1,000 Vacant Lots to Neighborhood Groups
Mayor Mike Duggan recently announced a plan that would allow thousands of vacant lots throughout the city of Detroit to be leased out to local residents. According to reports from the Detroit Free Press and Livingston Daily, Duggan made his proposal at the national Reclaiming Vacant Properties conference at the Detroit Mariott Renaissance Center, with the intention of starting the program as early as this summer.
Under the program, vacant city lots would be sold off to residents for a lease period of three years, for $25 per year, so long as a neighborhood block club approves the sale and agrees to help maintain the aesthetic quality and safety of the lots in the immediate area.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Duggan’s program “piggybacks on existing programs” which allow the city to sell side lots to city residents, and to auction off houses that have been vacated due to unpaid taxes. Out of the 43 million Americans that are forced to relocate each year, the Detroit Land Bank Authority has seized and auctioned off 320 houses — although there are still many empty homes that haven’t been auctioned off yet.
The city of Detroit has filed about 1,000 lawsuits against owners of nuisance properties throughout the city so far, with permission from local judges (or from the lot owners themselves) to seize the properties. Once the lots are sold off to neighborhood clubs, the local block clubs will sign an agreement with the city that each lot is used for activities that are “compatible with the neighborhood.”
There doesn’t appear to be any plan for what will happen to the lots after the three-year-lease period is up, but if the program is successful, it seems likely that the lots will continue to be used for things like community gardens and parking spaces.
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SW Detroit Building’s 3rd Fire in 6 Months “Suspicious,” Fire Authorities Say
Officials are labeling an apartment fire that occurred last weekend in Southwest Detroit as “suspicious,” but investigators have yet to determine the cause.
No injuries were reported from the fire, according to Detroit Fire Chief Dale Bradley — apparently the unit in which the fire started was vacant — but the building’s other residents were forced to race to safety.
“Me and my kids were sleeping and I heard a loud noise, and I’m scared,” Katie Reeves, one of the residents who escaped the fire, told ClickOnDetroit.com. “My door is metal, so I looked through the peephole thing and there was smoke, so I looked out and the whole house was burning.”
Detroit firefighters were called to the 8300 block of Rathbone Street at 4:11 a.m. (earlier reports had indicated they arrived around 3:30 a.m., but that information has been updated). They were able to extinguish the blaze and the tenants have now been allowed back into the building.
But this is the third time in the past six months that firefighters have responded to the same building, and the fires keep starting in the same apartment.
The best way for residents in multi-unit buildings to protect themselves from fires is to ensure that they have working smoke detectors, Detroit fire officials have said on multiple occasions. Fire sprinklers, which are required in some types of buildings, can also be an important safety feature and can reduce damage from fires once they start.
It’s vitally important that all residents review emergency response guidelines, as well as educate themselves on fire prevention techniques to use in and around the home. That’s a particularly good idea heading into the holiday weekend and grilling season in general (about 63% of the U.S. population grills monthly), as U.S. fire departments deal with over 8,000 fires each year caused by grills or barbecues.
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Michigan Tech Researchers Use 3-D Printers To Create Synthetic Nerve Tissue
In just one year, from 2012 to 2013, there were an estimated two million soft tissue fillers administered to patients in the United States. Most of these fillers were used for cosmetic reasons — to fill in scars and to help even skin tone.
But researchers from the Michigan Technological University have begun experimenting with tissue fillers in a new way that might just make it possible for patients with spinal injuries to regain their sense of touch — and it’s happening with a simple 3-D printer.
According to the university’s website, the team of researchers came together under the direction of Tolou Shokuhfar, as assistant professor at Michigan Tech and the director of the school’s In-Situ Nonmedicine and Nanoelectronics Laboratory. Under her guidance, the researchers have begun using 3-D printers to create synthesized nerve tissue, which will hopefully assist in nerve cell regeneration when a patient has a serious spinal cord injury.
Perhaps researchers have not been using 3-D printers in the medical industry for long, but it’s already clear that there’s a need for inexpensive, high-quality, and custom-designed prosthetics.
Already, developers and surgeons have created 3-D implants made of biomaterial, which can expand and change shape to fit the patient as he or she grows.
Shokuhfar’s team used the same starting point — biomaterial — but instead of using the printed devices as mere prosthetics that take the place of missing bones or muscles, they have aimed to create actual tissues with properties that encourage new cells to grow.
The synthetic tissue isn’t exactly “living,” and it’s created out of a syrupy polymer material that Shokuhfar’s team has to make in the lab. These cellulose nanocrystals are then printed out through a syringe attached to the printer, making thin layers of tissue.
The process is still in its earliest stages and, as 3dprint.com and Med City News have both noted, there are no regulations on the procedure just yet. It could be a decade — maybe even two — until the procedure is actually used on real patients, but it’s clear that Michigan Tech is already the leader in this revolutionary and life-changing technology.
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Detroit Pistons Sponsoring ‘Reading Room Makeover’ Contest
For the third year in a row, the Detroit Pistons are holding their “Reading Room Makeover” competition for schools across Michigan. The Detroit Free Press reports that in conjunction with Farm Bureau Insurance, the Pistons are holding the competition, which is intended to encourage reading and library skills. The contest was announced on April 28th, and the NBA team will be accepting applications through the end of May.
The lucky elementary, middle, or high school will win a complete renovation of their reading room or library, including new paint, carpet, furniture, computers, and other resources. Carpeting, accounting for 51% of the United States’s total flooring market, is a common flooring material for school libraries and reading rooms.
“There’s no greater satisfaction than investing in the communities and schools that cultivate tomorrow’s best and brightest leaders,” said Vic Verchereau, Vice President of Farm Bureau Insurance. “As Michigan’s Insurance Company, we are energized to enrich learning experiences for Michigan youth. Our alliance with Palace Sports and Entertainment and the Detroit Pistons is a powerful way to make a difference in students’ lives.”
Since the contest began for the first time in 2012, the Pistons and Farm Bureau Insurance has refurbished and renovated 31 libraries and facilities across the state, including rooms in schools, community centers, and hospitals.
“Making an impact in our community remains a top priority and what better way to give back than to refresh a Michigan school’s reading room or library?” said Dennis Mannion, the CEO and President of Palace Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Pistons. “We are thrilled to be working with Farm Bureau Insurance for a third consecutive year to present this exciting opportunity for our local schools.”
The grand-prize winner will be announced in July. The actual renovation work will be done over the summer. The renovated library or reading will be officially “unveiled” in a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony in the fall.
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