How can we legally remove blight in the city?

[Jiveturkey]

If a home has been destroyed by a fire and has since remained in the same blighted condition for 2 years or more, what's the hold up in terms of tearing the shit down?

ps. I've been on Dyes for years and had to reset my user name and password, so I'm not a "newbie".

Cheers!

[bailey]

If a home has been destroyed by a fire and has since remained in the same blighted condition for 2 years or more, what's the hold up in terms of tearing the shit down?

ps. I've been on Dyes for years and had to reset my user name and password, so I'm not a "newbie".

Cheers!

Figure out who owns it. buy it. tear it down.

[SWMAP]

"Figure out who owns it. buy it. tear it down"

I hate this smart-alecky stuff! Sure, buy up a burnt-out building from someone who hasn't paid the taxes on it at least since it burned and probably before.

Why not answer a sincere question sincerely or just don't say anything? Why is it so often lately that people on this Board jump in with sarcasm/ Do you think it makes you look smart/ I think you look stupid.

[Todd_Scott]

[SWMAP, I recommend adding these types of people to your ignore list so you don't see their posts. It's accessible in the User CP.]

Jiveturkey,

I'm not an expert on this but I know some community development corporations are maintaining a priority list of structures to tear down. They are working with Buildings and Safety to prioritize these for demolition.

Another option is to contact a city councilperson or provide public comment at one of Council's Public Health and Safety Committee meetings.

[bailey]

"Figure out who owns it. buy it. tear it down"

I hate this smart-alecky stuff! Sure, buy up a burnt-out building from someone who hasn't paid the taxes on it at least since it burned and probably before.

Why not answer a sincere question sincerely or just don't say anything? Why is it so often lately that people on this Board jump in with sarcasm/ Do you think it makes you look smart/ I think you look stupid.

Thank you board police. I notice you provided nothing even approaching an answer to the OPs question in your post, why do YOU feel the need to post completely off topic remarks? SO....let;s review. If you want to LEGALLY get rid of the blighted property[[sometime this decade); buy the home and tear it down. You can do that either by yourself of try to get a neighborhood collection going. Detroit has plenty of blight ordinances but no money or manpower to enforce them. I suppose you could also go TScott's route, but really, isn't that the option that has failed in Detroit for about 30 years?

What is your BETTER solution SW?

[SWMAP]

"I notice you provided nothing even approaching an answer to the OPs question in your post"

I did not jump in with a sarcastic answer, if you notice. I said nothing at all. Maybe you would have been better to say what you just contributed in the first place.

[ndavies]

This is strictly a matter of money. It costs money to tear down all those houses. The city doesn't have enough to do all the things they need to do. You could get the city to reprioritize the money they recieve and move demolitions up the list. There are many other demands on that money and freeing it up isn't going to be easy.

The city goes on a tear down frenzy everytime someone gives them money designated for that purpose.

[lilpup]

It will still look like crap with trash strewn all over the place. While the blighted buildings are problematic, just picking up the trash and mowing the weeds to a reasonable length can go a long way toward making things look better - and neighborhood groups or individuals with time can do it without waiting for the city to have money.

[wolverine]

p a p e r w o r k

It is not just money. It take time to get the surveys, proper permits in order, engineers to assess the property, approvals. Then if they go out on site and find someone squatting there...that's it, demolition is called off. Then it's more paperwork and approvals all over again.

[downtown_racine]

Jiveturkey: Just wanted to say nice user name.

[Magnatomicflux]

I like it too...........but I don't think he knows what he's talking about

[CLAUDE G]

If it was my neighborhood, I would just put all the garbage laying around the outside of the house, inside the house and board up all the windows.

If you put it infront of the house, it will sit there for months, and if you want to get rid of it you got to pay for a dumpster.

By atleast putting the garbage inside the house, the city will have to dispose of it when they tear down the house.

[DetroitDad]

1. Figure out who owns the property. You can search for the owner of a particular property a number of ways. Each city or town has a tax assessor who evaluates the homes, businesses and land in the town, and determines the tax on each property. Every piece of real estate in a city or town is included in the “assessor rolls,” and you can use them to learn who owns a property. You also can learn the name of a property owner by viewing the deed to a particular piece of real estate or by reading the town’s voter list.[1] In Detroit, the Assessment rolls are open for public inspection during business hours in Room 804 of the City-County Building.
   
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2. See if your neighborhood association can allocate funds or organize a charity drive. Money would be put toward the purchase of the property.
   
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3. Have a real estate agent [[or DIY if you wish) contact the property owner and make them an offer on the house for $1,000 or less [[slum lords sometimes happen by accident. If the property is abandoned, then it was thrown away and forgotten, so the owner might be surprised, and more than happy to make $100-$1,000 that just came out of nowhere).
   
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4. Before purchase, arrange a deal to donate the property to Blight Busters. They will either find someone to live in it, or demolish it [[or so I have been told).

If the owner is a "investor" and absent landlord, then additional steps will need to be taken. Remember, you DO have the power and tools to get it done. Let us [[DetroitYES! Community) know if you need any additional help.

[wolverine]

If it was my neighborhood, I would just put all the garbage laying around the outside of the house, inside the house and board up all the windows.

If you put it infront of the house, it will sit there for months, and if you want to get rid of it you got to pay for a dumpster.

By atleast putting the garbage inside the house, the city will have to dispose of it when they tear down the house.

A certain amount of garbage will have to be removed and that will add cost. So that's less houses to demolish because your idea makes it harder. It's also being irresponsible and not helping the neighborhood. You are merely shuffling the trash around, but in a far worse place. Most respectable block clubs or community organizations will take the trash to a drop off site.

Furthermore it's creating an illegal fire hazard. If the house burns down, they will hold YOU accountable if they find out what you were doing.

[SWMAP]

Remember that the question was prefaced with this information:
"home has been destroyed by a fire and has since remained in the same blighted condition for 2 years or more"

So, attempting to buy that home will be hard and misguided. What is the likliehood that property taxes have been paid since it burned and even before it burned. Very likely that the property has been remanded to the County since it is two years unoccupied. To get the title you have to pay the back taxes [[or somebody does) and you may have a water lein that has to be taken care of. Say you're up to $4000 there. Then the poster mentions that its a tear-down. There are licenses and fees there and you have to use a certified company because of demolition and dumping laws. That will be $2000 right there.

Bottom line: "finding the owner' and "buying" the property from him/her for $1000 or less is unrealistic and with additional fees, costs, demolition, etc - it is not sensible at all to try to "buy" a derelect property.

As to how to go about finding any owner: go to Wayne County's site and then go to "pay your taxes." The page will ask for the address of the parcel and when you put that in you can learn who/what the owner is [[if not a commercial property). Then go to Wayne County Land Records [[a different website), search for the name you just got and by searching the parcel ownership information you can oftern determine the owner's address.

Be warned: many properties are so tax delinquent that the records just say forfeited and there is no further information.

As for Blight Busters - they have a great model - but they don't really work on the east side, for instance and they aren't working on the SW side - so unless the poster's problem property is in their area of concern, they won't want it.

[DetroitPole]

If it was my neighborhood, I would just put all the garbage laying around the outside of the house, inside the house and board up all the windows.

If you put it infront of the house, it will sit there for months, and if you want to get rid of it you got to pay for a dumpster.

By atleast putting the garbage inside the house, the city will have to dispose of it when they tear down the house.

Probably not advisable. If you have a big enough vehicle, you can take it to one of the city dumps. Even if it is bulk, it is free as long as your driver's license says Detroit. You can also put it someplace, say, your garage, and take it out on bulky trash day. They pick that stuff up with no issue in my experience.

Whenever I find a big mess I usually break it down gradually and put it in my big black wheely garbage can. At most for myself I'll have a couple shopping bags full of garbage per week. You'd be amazed what you can fit in those garbage cans.

[izzyindetroit]

"Figure out who owns it. buy it. tear it down"

I hate this smart-alecky stuff! Sure, buy up a burnt-out building from someone who hasn't paid the taxes on it at least since it burned and probably before.

Why not answer a sincere question sincerely or just don't say anything? Why is it so often lately that people on this Board jump in with sarcasm/ Do you think it makes you look smart/ I think you look stupid.

i thought the comment was quite contributing.

perhaps a smart-alecky remark would have been "sell your house, move to a different city."

[ragnarok1981]

The cities around here namely Detroit and Highland park simply don't have the resources to tear down all these burned out wrecks. I have personally been baffled as to why people in these neighborhoods are willing to live next to such obvious hazards and do nothing about it. Yes the property belongs to someone but if they actually filed charges against you for tearing down some burned out hulk that was beyond redemption I think they would be laughed out of court. People around here need to be a little more vigilante in their actions and deal with these homes themselves rather than moaning and groaning about how bad it is. If you can you should be going out there with crowbars and sledge hammers and tear down these places piece by piece. If we wait for the authorities to deal with it it will never get done.

[Funaho]

There are some citizen-run groups that do demolitions of old structures, but you definitely don't want to just walk over and start tearing down these things by hand. You could end caught under a piece of collapsed floor or roof, not to mention less obvious hazards like asbestos [[very common in old structures.)

[oladub]

I live in a rural area and I recently came across an Amish guy who had about 1.5 acres of stacked barnwood siding, beams, and posts. He contracts to tear old barns down, sorts the wood and sells barnwood siding by the semi load. His last load, I was told, went to Texas.

If something like can happen with old farm buildings, houses could be scrapped out the same way. It might take some changes to zoning laws but there should be a lot of white pine joists and rafters, flooring and siding stock, some good window assemblies, recycled brick, scrap metal pipes, etc. to make this worthwhile but only if their is a market for it. my grandfather built a home in GP Farms mostly with lumber Hudson Motors had thrown out. He removed the nails and was good to go. I don't know if that would be legal anymore. With plaster and new bricks, it looked like any other new house inside and out. Habitat for Humanity could benefit from such an idea.

A system of permits could allow the highest bidder, or maybe lowest bidder depending on the market, to have the rights to all material with the requirement of removing all materials.

[SWMAP]

Some city ordinances or something prohibit scrapping of most of the old structures. The people at Architectural Warehouse of Detroit can only have what owners sign over and so most of the stuff there is pretty new.