Back in April, the city of Detroit came up with a no nonsense answer to its housing crisis. A BRO reader passed along this article in CBS Detroit that talks about Mayor Duggan’s plan to go after homeowners who have left their properties to rot. This may be a drastic measure, but desperate times call for drastic measures. I’ve often wondered why Buffalo couldn’t take similar actions with some of its dilapidated housing stock, as well as some of the high profile properties that continue to face demolition by neglect.
In Detroit, the 80,000 abandoned properties will be tackled one neighborhood at a time. The message basically states that if a property owner is willing to leave his or her problems behind, the problem will now no longer be the responsibility of the community. Rather it’s gonna come back and bite the owner in the ass. The owner can either fix up the house or sell it to someone who has the resources to do so. Otherwise the house will be seized by the City of Detroit land bank. Property owners are given six months to come up with a solution.
The City is also working with banks that incentivize people to purchase homes at City auctions. In order to qualify for the incentives, the buyers must then reside in the homes for a certain period of time.
In Buffalo, it is a known fact that many blighted properties are owned by either slumlords or speculators. More often than not, these property owners are allowed to slide, with no repercussions. Maybe it’s time to hold them accountable?