Like many Detroit neighborhoods, MorningSide has been hit hard by tax foreclosure year after year. In 2015, 113 occupied homes were foreclosed and auctioned for falling more than 2 years behind on property taxes. After the auction, Loveland tried to visit the occupants of these 113 homes to understand their situations. We found 55 homes had already become vacant. Other occupants were being evicted or wrestling with whether to try and stay. A citywide census to understand who is being foreclosed and how to help them, along with changes to the auction, are needed to avoid damaging more people and property in 2016. Read the "2015 Tax Foreclosure Auction MorningSide Report" for human stories and data about tax foreclosure and the auction in MorningSide, a representative microcosm of all Detroit.

PDF: Morningside Report

MAP: Occupant Type of MorningSide Foreclosures

MAP: Current Status of MorningSide Foreclosure Occupants

MAP: Artesian Equities' Tax Reverters in MorningSide

Introduction

Like many. Detroit neighborhoods, Morning Side has been hit hard by tax foreclosure year after year. In 2015, 113 occupied homes were foreclosed and auctioned for falling more than 2 years behind on property taxes. Detroit's tax foreclosure epidemic is far from over. As of fall 2015, an estimated 60,000 Detroit properties were due to receive foreclosure notices for 2016, including as many as 40,000 occupied homes housing more than 100,000 Detroiters, or 1 in 7 city residents. 

As new programs aim to move more people into the city and demolish blight, tax foreclosure and the auction as currently conducted continue to displace people and create the need for even more demolition. A citywide census to understand who is being foreclosed and how to help them, along with changes to the auction, are needed to avoid damaging more people and property in 2016.