Property owners may face jail time under Michigan anti-blight bills
Michigan cities would have the tools to fight blight in quicker, more effective ways under bills that passed the state Senate Thursday and are now on their way to Gov. Rick Snyder.
The City of Detroit needs these tools to give citizens back a clean city,” said state Sen. Bert Johnson, D-Highland Park, a sponsor of one of the bills. “It’s very difficult to envision a redensified city if the tools to take down these structures and to hold people accountable aren’t in place.”
The bills would: Increase civil and criminal penalties for people who violated blight laws; allow communities to create an administrative hearings bureau to expedite hearings on blight violations; prohibit a person from getting rezoning or building permits for new properties if they were delinquent on paying blight fines on another property; allow a city to begin garnishing procedures against people who are delinquent on blight fines.
Although the bills passed on 35-1 votes, there were some reservations because banks, credit unions, mortgage servicers and governmental agencies are exempt from the sanctions in the bill.
“It’s very difficult to hold banking institutions to the kind of accountability that we’d like to see them held to,” Johnson said. “You might have a bank that’s headquartered in Florida with no offices in the state.”
The laws will help cities like Detroit, which has an estimated, 78,000 blighted properties, according to reports from the city’s emergency manager’s office.
Detroit businessmen have jumped in to help with the problem. Residential developer Bill Pulte is the founder of the Detroit Blight Authority, which has cleaned up a 10-block area near Eastern Market and 14 blocks in the city’s Brightmoor neighborhood. The efforts were paid for with money from local foundations and several families, including the Pultes.
The city also recently got a $300-million federal grant to help demolish abandoned structures in Detroit.
“No one should have to tolerate blight in their neighborhoods or in their cities,” said state Sen. Virgil Smith, D-Detroit, a sponsor of one of the bills in the five-bill package. “It is outrageous what some people are getting away with just to make a fast buck.:”
Blight violators who are charged criminally would be subject to fines of up to $1,000 and/or up to 93 days in jail.
Source.
I think this is ridiculous. This is supposed to improve blight in Detroit? But you've excluded bank? Come on! That is some bullshit. A lot of the blighted properties that are not maintained belong to banks. But of course they can own as many as they want and not maintain them and still never face the same penalties individuals do. -_-
The City of Detroit needs these tools to give citizens back a clean city,” said state Sen. Bert Johnson, D-Highland Park, a sponsor of one of the bills. “It’s very difficult to envision a redensified city if the tools to take down these structures and to hold people accountable aren’t in place.”
The bills would: Increase civil and criminal penalties for people who violated blight laws; allow communities to create an administrative hearings bureau to expedite hearings on blight violations; prohibit a person from getting rezoning or building permits for new properties if they were delinquent on paying blight fines on another property; allow a city to begin garnishing procedures against people who are delinquent on blight fines.
Although the bills passed on 35-1 votes, there were some reservations because banks, credit unions, mortgage servicers and governmental agencies are exempt from the sanctions in the bill.
“It’s very difficult to hold banking institutions to the kind of accountability that we’d like to see them held to,” Johnson said. “You might have a bank that’s headquartered in Florida with no offices in the state.”
The laws will help cities like Detroit, which has an estimated, 78,000 blighted properties, according to reports from the city’s emergency manager’s office.
Detroit businessmen have jumped in to help with the problem. Residential developer Bill Pulte is the founder of the Detroit Blight Authority, which has cleaned up a 10-block area near Eastern Market and 14 blocks in the city’s Brightmoor neighborhood. The efforts were paid for with money from local foundations and several families, including the Pultes.
The city also recently got a $300-million federal grant to help demolish abandoned structures in Detroit.
“No one should have to tolerate blight in their neighborhoods or in their cities,” said state Sen. Virgil Smith, D-Detroit, a sponsor of one of the bills in the five-bill package. “It is outrageous what some people are getting away with just to make a fast buck.:”
Blight violators who are charged criminally would be subject to fines of up to $1,000 and/or up to 93 days in jail.
Source.
I think this is ridiculous. This is supposed to improve blight in Detroit? But you've excluded bank? Come on! That is some bullshit. A lot of the blighted properties that are not maintained belong to banks. But of course they can own as many as they want and not maintain them and still never face the same penalties individuals do. -_-