“Everyone
is
working
hard and
smartly
to
eliminate
foreclosures.”
Op-Ed By
Phil
Cavanagh,
Assistant
Deputy
Treasurer,
Wayne
County
DETROIT
- No
matter
which
side of
an issue
you may
be on
you have
to
respect
passion
and hard
work.
There
are many
individuals
and
organizations
who have
dedicated
themselves
to
reducing
the
number
of
property
tax
foreclosures,
especially
by
assisting
homeowners.
The
numbers
have
been so
staggering
there is
plenty
blame to
spread
in Wayne
County
if that
is what
you want
to focus
on.
I
personally
have
been
passionate
about
stemming
the tide
of the
tsunami
of
foreclosures.
As a
former
State
Representative,
I
introduced
a bill
to grant
relief
for
homeowners
by
lowering
the
state-mandated
18%
interest
rate on
properties
in
delinquency.
Almost
four
years
the bill
languished
until
Mayor
Mike
Duggan,
who
recently
praised
this
effort
in his
State of
the City
Address,
and
Wayne
County
Deputy
Treasurer
came to
Lansing
to
support
it. With
this
effort
the bill
passed
allowing
for
Interest
Rate
Stipulated
Payment
Agreements
(IRSPAs)
reducing
interest
rates to
6% for
struggling
homeowners.
The
Wayne
County
Treasurer’s
Office
has
offered
these
plans
for
three
years
now and
it has
made a
difference
– over
36,000
households
encompassing
over
100,000
residents
have
successfully
utilized
IRSPAs
to
remain
in their
homes in
the last
three
years. A
total of
50,000
households
have
avoided
foreclosure.
This is
just one
example
of how
government
leadership
is
working
together.
Treasurer
Eric
Sabree
and
Mayor
Mike
Duggan
have
both
stated
publicly
that
they
want
zero
occupied
homes in
Tax
Foreclosure
Auction
this
September.
A few
years
ago this
may have
seemed
impossible,
but
since
Mr.
Sabree
became
Wayne
County
Treasurer
two
years
ago, tax
foreclosures
in Wayne
Country
are down
72%. And
foreclosure
of owner
occupied
properties
are down
83%!
This
decrease
is
because
of his
leadership
in
bringing
together
non-profits,
advocacy
groups,
the
business
community,
the
State,
the
County
and all
municipalities
--
including
the City
of
Detroit
--
coming
together.
It is
making
an
impact.
The fact
is we
all must
follow
the law
and to
suggest
government
can wave
a magic
wand and
place a
hold on
all
foreclosures
is not
lawful.
Further,
It would
be
unfair
to every
non-delinquent
taxpayer
in the
County
(95%) if
Treasurer
Sabree
just
pulled
from the
foreclosure
list all
the
occupied
properties
whose
owners
have not
paid
requisite
taxes
due. Not
just
unfair
to those
current
on their
property
taxes
but also
a
disservice
to those
delinquent
taxpayers
if we
don’t
address
the
underlying
problems
that
lead to
foreclosure.
What
we are
doing --
expanding
outreach,
holding
neighborhood
workshops,
providing
free
credit
counseling,
pushing
Principal
Residence
Exemptions
(PREs)
and
Poverty
Tax
Exemptions
(PTEs),
and even
raising
private
dollars
to help
pay
property
taxes
for the
most
impoverished.
There is
a very
successful
pilot
program
designed
to help
good
tenants
whose
landlords
just
took
their
rent but
ignored
the
property
taxes.
This
program
is
helping
to make
rent
paying
tenants
into
homeowners.
Its
success,
may
result
in
program
expansion.
With
these
small
victories
comes
the
willingness
to help
and do
more.
The
McGregor
Fund
also
sees the
progress
and has
given
nonprofits
$500,000
to help
struggling
homeowners
stay on
their
IRSPAs.
Quicken
Loans
Community
Investment
Fund
(QLCIF)
gave
$350,000
last
year to
the
Renters
to
Homeowners
pilot
program.
Without
the
support
of
Detroit
and
County
Treasurer,
the
program
would
not have
happened.
Now,
QLCIF
has
challenged
that if
matching
funds
are
raised,
it would
donate
$1
million.
The
Wayne
County
Treasurer’s
Office
is also
working
with the
City of
Detroit,
J.P.
Morgan
Chase,
the
Bloomberg
Foundation
and
Cities
for
Financial
Empowerment
on
creating
a
permanent
Center
for
Financial
Empowerment
to offer
financial
coaching
to every
resident
of the
County.
Today
there is
a new
spirit
of
cooperation
in Wayne
County.
We are
all
meeting,
coordinating
resources
and
working
together
to solve
the tax
foreclosure
crisis.
The 2018
goal is
clear –
zero
owner
occupied
foreclosures.
There is
a lot of
proactive
action
being
done to
stop
foreclosures
and
preserve
homeownership
including
but not
limited
to:
expanding
poverty
tax
exemptions
(PTEs),
getting
a
retroactive
PTE bill
passed
in
Lansing,
“common
sense
payment
plans”,
talking
to MSDHA
about
Step
Forward
requirements,
utilizing
the
first
Right of
Refusal
(RoR),
coordinating
with the
Detroit
and
Wayne
County
Land
Bank and
many
other
programs.
Government
can help
stop tax
foreclosure,
but it
must be
done in
a legal,
common
sense,
non-reactionary
manner,
to solve
the
problem.
Working
together,
I have
no doubt
that we
can
solve
the
problem
of
foreclosures
in Wayne
County.