Wayne County Extends Foreclosure Deadline to May 12
Christine MacDonald, Christine Ferretti and Joel Kurth
The Detroit News 12:49 p.m. EDT March 31, 2015
Detroit — Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz announced Tuesday afternoon he’s extending the deadline to May 12 for homeowners to pay their delinquent taxes and avoid foreclosure.
The move came the same day the Detroit City Council approved a resolution asking Wojtowicz for a moratorium to give lawmakers time to help homeowners.
Hundreds of property owners packed the treasurer’s offices Tuesday, which officials had said was the deadline to pay and avoid losing their homes. Those living in homes they own now have until May 12 to pay. Foreclosed properties are auctioned in the fall.
“We continue to do all we can to help taxpayers avoid foreclosure,” Chief Deputy Treasurer David Szymanski wrote in an email. “This is one step to make sure people can access the new programs granted by the legislature to reduce interest and save their homes.”
Recent legislation signed by Gov. Rick Snyder allows the treasurer to lower interest on debt from 18 percent to 6 percent for many homeowners. In many instances, homeowners can have taxes capped at a quarter of the market value of the home.
Wojtowicz is pursuing a record number of foreclosures this year, but his staff has said halting the process would only allow people to get further behind.
In June, the office started the foreclosure process on nearly 75,000 properties, the vast majority in Detroit. But as of mid-March, half of those property owners had paid or were in payment plans or other programs.
Of the remaining 38,000 facing foreclosure, about 16,000 are estimated to be occupied, Szymanski said. He expected that number to dwindle further after Tuesday.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan also announced Tuesday afternoon a new effort to give homeowners some relief on 2015 taxes.
The city will waive interest and penalties on 2015 taxes for homeowners in a county payment plan that reduced their interest rate, as long as they pay 2015 taxes by February 2016.
Nonprofits, the treasurer and other groups held numerous workshops over the past few months to get homeowners into payment plans to avoid foreclosure.
Around noon Tuesday outside the treasurer’s Greektown offices, a couple of dozen protesters held signs and chanted. Activists also picketed Wojtowicz’s home Monday night.
Surquetta Morgan, 38, showed up Tuesday in hopes of preventing her foreclosure. She said her husband recently died and she is worried about losing the home they shared for 17 years over her estimated $4,000 tax debt. She said if she’s homeless, she’s scared protective services will come for her two small children.
“I am worried my house is going to get taken. My kids are going to get taken,” Morgan said. “I am just praying.”
Housing advocates argued there wasn’t enough time to help everyone and pressed for a temporary halt on the foreclosures.
“This is a state of emergency,” Abayomi Azikiwe, of the Moratorium Now coalition of groups working to stop foreclosures, told the Wayne County Commission in March. “Ten thousand people could be removed from their homes if something isn’t done.”
Szymanski called that a “tremendous exaggeration.” The county doesn’t evict homeowners, he said, adding he’s “cautiously optimistic” most owner-occupants will be able to remain in their homes.
Szymanski said most foreclosed properties are abandoned and there is no good argument to allow people who don’t pay taxes to avoid foreclosure.
“The property receives government services — streetlights, police and fire protection, local schools and trash,” he said. “If you don’t pay your taxes, your neighbor is subsidizing you.”
Advocates argue that foreclosure leads to blight and will cost poor, old people their homes.
“You are never going to stop the blight until you stop the foreclosures,” said Dawn DeRose of Detroit Eviction Defense. “What kind of government are we having here in Detroit if you turn 80-year-olds out of their home?’
cmacdonald@detroitnews.com
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| Errol Jennings of Russell Woods speaking at Wayne County Treasurer's Office on March 31, 2015. (Photo: Valerie Jean) |
The Detroit News 12:49 p.m. EDT March 31, 2015
Detroit — Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz announced Tuesday afternoon he’s extending the deadline to May 12 for homeowners to pay their delinquent taxes and avoid foreclosure.
The move came the same day the Detroit City Council approved a resolution asking Wojtowicz for a moratorium to give lawmakers time to help homeowners.
Hundreds of property owners packed the treasurer’s offices Tuesday, which officials had said was the deadline to pay and avoid losing their homes. Those living in homes they own now have until May 12 to pay. Foreclosed properties are auctioned in the fall.
“We continue to do all we can to help taxpayers avoid foreclosure,” Chief Deputy Treasurer David Szymanski wrote in an email. “This is one step to make sure people can access the new programs granted by the legislature to reduce interest and save their homes.”
Recent legislation signed by Gov. Rick Snyder allows the treasurer to lower interest on debt from 18 percent to 6 percent for many homeowners. In many instances, homeowners can have taxes capped at a quarter of the market value of the home.
Wojtowicz is pursuing a record number of foreclosures this year, but his staff has said halting the process would only allow people to get further behind.
In June, the office started the foreclosure process on nearly 75,000 properties, the vast majority in Detroit. But as of mid-March, half of those property owners had paid or were in payment plans or other programs.
Of the remaining 38,000 facing foreclosure, about 16,000 are estimated to be occupied, Szymanski said. He expected that number to dwindle further after Tuesday.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan also announced Tuesday afternoon a new effort to give homeowners some relief on 2015 taxes.
The city will waive interest and penalties on 2015 taxes for homeowners in a county payment plan that reduced their interest rate, as long as they pay 2015 taxes by February 2016.
Nonprofits, the treasurer and other groups held numerous workshops over the past few months to get homeowners into payment plans to avoid foreclosure.
Around noon Tuesday outside the treasurer’s Greektown offices, a couple of dozen protesters held signs and chanted. Activists also picketed Wojtowicz’s home Monday night.
Surquetta Morgan, 38, showed up Tuesday in hopes of preventing her foreclosure. She said her husband recently died and she is worried about losing the home they shared for 17 years over her estimated $4,000 tax debt. She said if she’s homeless, she’s scared protective services will come for her two small children.
“I am worried my house is going to get taken. My kids are going to get taken,” Morgan said. “I am just praying.”
Housing advocates argued there wasn’t enough time to help everyone and pressed for a temporary halt on the foreclosures.
“This is a state of emergency,” Abayomi Azikiwe, of the Moratorium Now coalition of groups working to stop foreclosures, told the Wayne County Commission in March. “Ten thousand people could be removed from their homes if something isn’t done.”
Szymanski called that a “tremendous exaggeration.” The county doesn’t evict homeowners, he said, adding he’s “cautiously optimistic” most owner-occupants will be able to remain in their homes.
Szymanski said most foreclosed properties are abandoned and there is no good argument to allow people who don’t pay taxes to avoid foreclosure.
“The property receives government services — streetlights, police and fire protection, local schools and trash,” he said. “If you don’t pay your taxes, your neighbor is subsidizing you.”
Advocates argue that foreclosure leads to blight and will cost poor, old people their homes.
“You are never going to stop the blight until you stop the foreclosures,” said Dawn DeRose of Detroit Eviction Defense. “What kind of government are we having here in Detroit if you turn 80-year-olds out of their home?’
cmacdonald@detroitnews.com
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