Detroit councilwoman calls for halt of land bank sale of occupied homes
Sarah RahalDetroit ― Councilwoman At-Large Mary Waters called for action against the Detroit Land Bank Authority Wednesday morning, saying 26 homes that are part of a proposed sale to a developer are occupied.
Standing in front of an occupied home in the 5500 block of Maryland Street in the Morningside neighborhood Wednesday morning, Waters called for an immediate halt to pending land bank bundle sales and an audit of 26 occupied homes involved in the Buy Back program over the last five years. The homes are part of proposed sale to a developer seeking to buy and renovate 42 homes, which include the occupied ones.
"We have got to stop the sales right now. We need the city to own these homes and give people an opportunity to be homeowners," Waters said. "Why aren't we doing all that we can as a city to encourage homeownership? It breaks my heart. The land bank has been giving people the runaround telling them they don't have a clear title."
The Buy Back program was created in 2017 to provide a pathway to homeownership for people living in land bank-owned homes. On its website, the program said that occupants are vetted for Buy Back eligibility before the property is reviewed for the Occupied Property Disposition Program. The second program works to sell occupied properties "to entities that are committed to renovating the house and working with the occupant to offer rental, home purchase, or relocation opportunities."
The Buy Back program has 1,159 people listed, 984 have finished the process and the land bank will have granted its 1,000th deed this summer, said Alyssa Strickland, DLBA spokeswoman.
"We have people currently in the program expecting to graduate and get their deeds this summer and people ready to enroll who would be harmed if the program was halted," Strickland said.
On Thursday, Detroit City Council's Planning and Economic Development Standing Committee will review a sale of 42 properties in various neighborhoods by the Detroit Land Bank Authority to Bedford Development LLC for $105,000.
The Bedford proposes drawing down the property in batches of 15 homes per closing with an estimated renovation time of one home per month. They have provided proof of funding for the project in the amount of $2.7 million. Of the 42 homes, 26 are occupied and 16 are vacant.
"Under the program, the homes will be renovated and efforts will be made to work with the occupants in an attempt to help them stay in the home as a homeowner or tenant," according to the proposal.
Bedford has completed 19 renovations of DBLA properties in the city.
The 42 homes are slated to be sold to Bedford for about $2,500 each and most of the people have put much more into their homes, Waters said.
"I'm still waiting for the next step and my paperwork," said India McSwain, who was 19 when she thought she purchased her home. "Why haven't I gotten a notice that it's going to be sold?"
McSwain claims she entered the home in April 2009 and tried to buy the home through a land contract for $18,000. During a title exchange, she said she took the paperwork to the county building to get a registered deed for the home but was told by employees that they had "never seen anything like this paperwork."
"At that age, I was only 19 years old, so I didn't do a title search," she said. "They said the paperwork wasn't legit and we'll have someone investigate it and get back with you. Years went by, I'm still living here. I never got a deed. So, when the Buy Back program came about, I thought, why not join? I brought the paperwork to them but I'm still getting the runaround," she said.
The Land Bank disputes this. They said McSwain's home was foreclosed by the county in 2014 and their first contact was when they reached out to her in 2017.
"They were vetted for the Buy Back program and were deemed ineligible because they weren't complying with the program requirements," Strickland said. "They were notified in 2021 that the house was being reviewed for inclusion in our occupied sales program (the program this deal is under) and they were notified of this again last fall."
According to the Wayne County Register of Deeds, McSwain received a certificate of forfeiture in April 2014 from the Wayne County treasurer and the home was foreclosed on by September 2014. There was another certificate of forfeiture to McSwain in March 2014 and a quit claim deed issued by the treasurer to the Detroit Land Bank Authority in January 2015.
The land bank is expected to meet with Waters on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the Planning and Economic Development committee meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday.
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