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A Tale of Two Detroits

Feeley, Dianne
http://www.solidarity-us.org/node/5031

Publisher:  Against the Current
Date Written:  01/07/2017
Year Published:  2017  
Resource Type:  Article

Poverty in Detroit has become more concentrated over the last decade. Families live in neighborhoods with declining populations, more and more abandoned homes, and a poverty that persists year after year.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

Detroit is one of the few cities where poor people own their homes. Some inherited them from family members. Others purchased them when they had steady jobs, but the economic crisis and declining health took its toll.

Many had already paid off their 30-year mortgage but were enticed to take out another mortgage that turned out to be a predatory loan. They may have petitioned for a modification only to find themselves "two-tracked." That is, they were told to submit all their paperwork because surely the modification would be granted - only to find themselves stonewalled.

In actuality Detroit has suffered from two foreclosure crises: the first unleashed by mortgage companies and banks, the second by the city government. According to the city treasurer's records, over the last decade 125,000 homeowners were evicted for back taxes, with another 30,000 slated this year. Perhaps as many as two-thirds will avoid foreclosure by signing onto a payment plan, whether or not that plan is realistic. But even 10,000 homes facing foreclosure means the possible displacement of 25,000.
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