Cities struggling with vacant properties can use their ability to place liens on properties that fall behind on their taxes, a terrific way for cities to reclaim properties not being used by their owners (usually property speculators). Flint and Cleveland have used this, as have other so-called ‘shrinking’ cities. But in this terrible twist, Washington…
Tag: foreclosure
Cities and tax foreclosures
What happens when property owners stop paying their taxes? On January 8, 2012 the Detroit Free Press examined the property tax problem in Michigan (“Unpaid taxes put thousands of metro homeowners at risk of foreclosure”). This story reminds us that cities and counties are losing tax revenue not just as property values fall, but as people struggle…
Picturing the Crisis
How does the mortgage and foreclosure crisis compare to the Great Depression in photogeneity? Nice article here, with some great links to jump to. Read: Picturing the Crisis