Wayne County Won’t Enforce Its Own Rules Against Speculators

Image courtesy of Aaron Mondry and Outlier Media

Speculators who have unpaid blight tickets and delinquent property taxes aren’t supposed to be able to purchase more properties through the Wayne County Tax Auction, but they still do because the county isn’t enforcing its own rules. It’s then up to the city to deal with the fallout – blighted properties, lost revenue, and costly lawsuits to try to make the investors pay their blight tickets.

Investors, often hiding their identities, only have to sign an affidavit promising to pay their property taxes and maintain their properties in order to participate in the auction. There’s no oversight, so when the honor system doesn’t work, the speculators face no consequences. Both the city and county failed to respond to questions from Outlier Media, which has reported its investigation here.