Originally Posted by
Blueidone
On the utility issue: A friend of mine has a rental property in Detroit. A tenant was stealing electricity. It took DTE over a year to find out, then they billed the property owner...not the renter. The owner found out later that the tenant had a pot farm in the basement. He got stuck paying thousands of dollars for the electricity in order to be able to re-rent the unit with legal electricity. In the meantime, while he was trying to pay the bill, thieves broke into the house at least six times. He was tempted to walk away from it, but didn't. He tries very hard to be a good landlord, but it's very difficult.
As to squatters...unless someone reports them, nothing will be done. And even if you do report them, there is little or no follow-up in the City. And I'm NOT bashing Detroit. It is just the way it is now. Budget cuts, political turmoil, lack of police presence, inept public servants, etc etc have contributed to the problem. Add to that the mortgage crisis and the number of absentee owners who have just walked away from their properties, and you have a recipe for disaster.