City of Detroit decides to board homes

PLEASE READ.CITY OF DETROIT PLANS TO BOARD YOUR LISTINGS, CHARGE THE SELLER FOR THE COST PLUS ISSUE ADMIN FEES AND TICKETS.

On March 19th during the Detroit Association of Realtors General Membership meeting the City of Detroit announced that they would have field inspectors out looking for vacant and unsecured homes. If 1 window or door is open/broken the City will post a notice (I have a sample copy with the details). The notice says you have 24hrs to secure the property and call for an inspection within 24hrs of this notice. In the event the property is not secured the CITY may secure the property and 1 or MORE blight violation tickets will be issued in ADDITION to the city’s cost to secure. This will become a lien against the property also.

If 1 window is broken they will not only board that window but the ENTIRE 1st floor of the home. We are also told that if the home is secured when the city’s contractor arrives they will just leave and no fees will be charged. I also have a concern that the City will higher sub -contractors who may in some cases guarantee themselves some work.

The Detroit Association of Realtors and local neighborhood groups plan on holding a meeting with the Building and Safety Dept. to express our concerns. All will be welcome to attend. I will post the date and time of the meeting. Local block clubs call our Association all the time to complain about boarded homes and the negative appearance. We all agree that properties need to be secured but to board every window is a bit much.

Posted at 11:48PM Mar 27, 2009 by Peter Mirk in General  |  Comments[0]