Imagine that I, along with several thousand others, owe you an amount of money. While we accept that we do indeed owe you money, the basis for the amount owed is disputed by us as it is predicated on false assumptions, assumptions that most everyone knowledgeable of the circumstances agrees are false.
In case you haven’t been following the story – and why would you if you don’t live here – Detroit, and Wayne County, are about to toss a whole lot of people out of their homes. Granted, foreclosure is a fact of life. Don’t pay your mortgage or your property taxes and out you go. So what’s the problem?
Glad you asked, Bucky.
On the off chance you’ve been off-planet for awhile now, the once great city of Detroit is in deep doo doo. It has been in deep doo doo for quite some time. One very major and very messy result of this is that the city has pretty much failed to do much of anything for a very long time. Like reassess property values. Any property values. Anywhere in the city. In several decades.
How much would you say this house is worth?
The city says it’s worth $11,000.00. I paid $500.00 for it and the previous owner was a happy camper. Maybe now you can see what the problem is. How many in this town owe back taxes on property that is nowhere near worth what the city claims it is worth? And the city’s answer to that? Well, no answer because trying to ask any question of any department in this town is like talking to the Sphinx. You won’t get an answer because no one here has a clue what is going on. Instead, they’ll just toss those folks out.
Way to go Detroit.
