How could they start demolition before they owned it???
This is because the CofD screwed up as usual. Their “ace” legal department THOUGHT they got it back for unpaid taxes and failed to do a simple title search to determine who exactly owned the site. So they stole his assets and started to tear down the buildings.
Why did the City of Detroit stop demolition?
Because the CofD lost in court when sued by Cristini.
But, I’ve told this story here before.
Look at my post [[#43) from August 12, 2012 here:
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthr...460#post337460
Here is part of that post that you need to read and understand with a quote I saved from a Detroit Free Press article:
“In the late 1990s, the plant had scores of rent- paying tenants who stored their cars and boats there, operated small businesses and staged paintball war games inside the tattered warren of buildings that straddle East Grand Boulevard.
It was also a time when the city believed it had title to the property [[edit: they did NOT) through foreclosure for unpaid taxes. The state, meanwhile, planned to tear down the plant and remove hundreds of thousands of tires.
Cristini was collecting rents and managing the property. The city tried to evict him that fall, but he holed up inside while the city's gang squad stood guard.
In 1999, Cristini and his lawyers sued the city, saying it failed to give notice to mortgage holders when the city sought to foreclose on the property. Cristini's lawyers thwarted the state's demolition plans and launched what would become a decade-long legal battle.”
I also said:
Cristini has won in court and at every appeal process. It has been rumored that an arbitrator sided with him and thought the CofD owed him a multi-million dollar settlement for illegally seizing his property.
So when Cristini’s real estate tax bill comes due he probably turns around and tells the CofD to “take it off the money YOU owe me.”
Most of the links I gave are now removed from the Internet and I can only save so much. But you still might find something here:
http://www.propertytaxrights.com/ind...=32&Itemid=107
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