Community Empowerment Matters

  On August 31, 2023, Mayor Mike Duggan announced a Land Value Tax (LVT) proposal, which would significantly alter the way property is taxed in Detroit. According to Mayor Duggan , “blight is rewarded and building is punished” under the current property tax system. This is not unique to Detroit. In many places in the United States, property tax systems are set up so that owners of vacant land and abandoned buildings have lower property tax bills than owners of well-kept, occupied buildings. To combat the high numbers of vacant and abandoned property in Detroit, the LVT would penalize land speculators and incentivize building and development. If the LVT is passed, “ Detroit will be one of the first big cities in the world to implement one.” Most articles that discuss Detroit’s LVT proposal look at it from the perspective of the residential homeowner, but it affects everyone who owns property, including business owners. This post seeks to expand the conversation and discuss how ...

  The Detroit Land Bank Authority (DLBA) is the largest current landowner in the City of Detroit and the largest land bank in the country. In 2014, the DLBA owned over 100,000 plots of land that had been deeded over by the City. Most of this land came to the city through tax-foreclosures. When property taxes are not paid for three consecutive years the house or property is foreclosed and forfeited to the city. The objective of the DLBA is “[t]o make vacant and residential public property available for sale in order to promote homeownership, neighborhood revitalization, urban agriculture and economic growth in the City of Detroit.” Community Enterprise Clinic Clients should take advantage of the DLBA’s objective and consider buying land from the DLBA.             In October of 2023, the DLBA announced in their quarterly report that they are in possession of 71,107 total properties. Almost 90% of this inventory is vacant lan...

  What are Community Land Trusts (CLTs)?   In the U.S., the Community Land Trust (CLT) model traces its origins to an organization called New Communities, Inc. , which used the CLT model in the American South during the 1960s to promote housing security for African American farmers. These farmers were being forced off of their land, often in retaliation for attempting to secure the right to vote.   The goal of the CLT model is to empower residents to create and control a vibrant, diverse, and high-quality neighborhood. Simply put, it’s a way to make home ownership affordable, sustainable, and accessible for generations of lower-income families.   Typically, community organizations purchase land, upon which they either build or rehabilitate houses. The organizations then form a CLT . CLTs are often governed by a board of directors made up of ⅓ housing residents, ⅓ community representatives, and ⅓ Board Members of the sponsoring community organization. Low-income...

  ( marked for usage under Creative Commons license, image source - https://www.flickr.com/photos/slumtourist/31013909225 )   Homeownership is the dream of many Americans. Unfortunately, some entities have been profiting off exploiting this dream and luring many Black Americans into shady deals promising homeownership but manufactured to end in foreclosure. Vision Property Management is such an entity and continues to perpetuate the centuries old crime of exploiting Black Americans in Detroit for profit. In this blog post, I will examine the current lawsuit filed against Vision Property Management, Detroit’s history of housing discrimination, and present efforts to assist homeownership in Detroit.         I.           Henderson v. Vision Property Management, LLC   On September 27, 2020, the American Civil Liberties Union Fund of Michigan, the Michigan Poverty Law Program, the NAACP Legal Defe...