100 signatures reached
To: Detroit Mayor Duggan, Wayne County Treasurer Eric Sabree, Detroit Land Bank Board Chair Erica Gerson, Detroit Assessor Alvin Horhn
SIGN NOW, TELL MAYOR DUGGAN: Stop Illegally Kicking Black Detroit Families Out through Foreclosures
.jpg)
The Duggan administration MUST SUSPEND pending property tax foreclosures!
Many Detroit residents -- mostly Black and Brown Detroit families -- were asked to pay much higher taxes on their homes and properties that they were exempt from because of their income level. When Black and Brown Detroiters couldn’t afford these high property taxes, their property/homes were illegally foreclosed on and Detroiters are being forced out of their homes.
Many Detroiters can’t afford to pay taxes that were set, illegally, much higher than required by the Michigan State Constitution.
The Mayor must announce that his administration will stop pending property tax foreclosures until confirming that homeowners have not been victims of unconstitutional property tax assessments.
Why is this important?
Because BLACK CITIES MATTER. Displacement through Development and Gentrification is racial violence targeting Black people across this nation.
Mayor Duggan, the City of Detroit, and greedy developers have their eye on Detroit and are working to push out Black and Brown families who have been the lifeline of this great city through thick and thin. Illegal Property Tax Foreclosures are being used to “clear out” working-class Black and Brown families in Detroit to make room for white gentrifiers.
TELL MAYOR DUGGAN TO STOP EVICTING FAMILIES IN TAX FORECLOSURES
From 2011 to 2015, the Wayne County treasurer foreclosed upon about 1 in 4 Detroit properties for nonpayment of property taxes. The Great Depression was the last time in American history that we experienced this record numbers of property tax foreclosures.
According to the Michigan Constitution, no property should be assessed at more than 50% of its market value. But, between 2009-2015, the City of Detroit assessed 55% to 85% of its properties in violation of its state constitution. Since property taxes were based on these ridiculous and illegally inflated numbers, it is no surprise that residents weren't able to pay. As a result, over 100,000 working families have lost their homes, and many Detroit neighborhoods have been devastated.
Black people in Detroit have been hit hardest of all by illegal property tax foreclosures. Tell Mayor Duggan to do right by Black Detroit families and communities of color who face homelessness without due process or justice in unscrupulous, illegal foreclosures.
How it will be delivered
We will deliver them in person!