Several Detroit communities are advocating for – and some have embarked on — a
“recruit-a-squatter” campaign to slow down the rate of arson, blight and dangerous and
demolished buildings.
At first glance, catering to squatters may appear to be an innovative way of saving homes
from the wrecking ball while meeting the needs of the housing poor. But, while giving the
appearance of being reasonable, this populist movement has more to do with Band-Aid
politics than with making a serious dent in the escalating rate of abandoned houses.
Some of his critics have accused Mayor Mike Duggan of ignoring neighborhoods. The
mayor is also deflecting blame for failing to efficiently, effectively and expeditiously tear
down thousands of abandoned and dilapidated buildings. To date, there’s no evidence
that city officials have come out publicly in support of this “neo-urban homesteading” idea
— with good reason.
The City Council’s 1980’s Nuisance Abatement Ordinance (aka “The Squatters Law”) was
not only discredited, but also kicked to the curb years ago. A similar extension program,
“Repair and Own”, allowed squatters to take title to a city-owned house after meeting
specified requirements received former Mayor Coleman Young’s blessings. It, too, hit
legal snags.
Today, squatting is actually illegal.
There’s no dispute that neighbors are worse today than at any time in the last half-century.
Housing stock is disintegrating faster than the city can cope with it. Why? Because the
incentives to abandon housing in Detroit remain much stronger than the incentives to own,
occupy and improve housing.
Crime and poor city services aside, the current property tax system discourages home
repairs. Improvements can trigger sharply higher tax assessments in a city where the
property tax rate is among the highest in the nation. Notably, the rate of tax collections to
taxes levied has been on a precipitous decline for, at least, four decades. Thus, the
consequences of abandonment are an over-tax overburden and a quality of life that
middle-class residents have found unacceptable.
Most have moved on.