DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – The city of Detroit has purchased 1,605 properties that were being foreclosed from 2017 to 2024 and transferred them to a nonprofit so the homeowners wouldn’t lose them.

In the program, the city has the right to purchase the homes for a minimum bid or fair market cost. The property is then transferred to a nonprofit that works with the homeowners to prevent them from having to give up their home. About 99% of the people in the program were able to pay their mortgage in full or be under a land contract.

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The purchase price of the homes was  previously funded by philanthropic and private donations.

The city is considering purchasing hundreds more tax foreclosed properties this year to expand the program.

The bid prices vary from as little as $2,000 to as high as $440,000.

This time, the nonprofit United Community Housing Coalition would buy the foreclosed properties from the city at the price the city paid. The United Community Housing Coalition is supported by its own private funders.

To qualify for the program, people have to be Detroit residents and must be renters, victims of property scams, those with “unsolvable probate issues” or those who would have qualified for certain property tax reductions. People enrolled in the program must live there full time as their primary residence and agree to purchase the home for the price paid by the city of Detroit.