Judge Denies ACLU's Request To Temporarily Halt Detroit-Area Tax Foreclosures, But Green-Lights Lawsuit Alleging That Wrongly-Inflated Property Assessments, Convoluted Process Of Obtaining Poverty Tax Exemptions Led To Impoverished Detroiters To Lose Their Homes To Foreclosure

In Detroit, Michigan, the Detroit Free Press reports:

• Wayne County's tax foreclosure auctions will continue in light of a judge's ruling [] in a class-action lawsuit the ACLU of Michigan brought this summer to address Detroit's foreclosure crisis.
  
  Wayne County Treasurer Eric Sabree, who was named as a defendant in the lawsuit, said he was pleased with the ruling from Wayne County Circuit Chief Judge Robert Colombo Jr. on a motion from the ACLU to halt the auctions.
  
  "The judge's ruling will allow the Wayne County Treasurer's office to move forward as mandated and authorized by state law to auction homes for unpaid property taxes," Sabree said in a statement released this afternoon.
  
  Despite the judge's ruling today, the ACLU of Michigan remains confident it ultimately will prevail in stopping certain tax foreclosures. The organization noted that Colombo [] denied the City of Detroit's motion to dismiss the case. The judge took under advisement a similar motion from Wayne County.
  
  The lawsuit, whose plaintiffs include the Morningside Community Organization, Historic Russell Woods-Sullivan Area Association, Oakman Boulevard Association and Neighbors Building Brightmoor, sought a moratorium on foreclosure of owner-occupied properties, citing improperly denied poverty exemptions. The suit also alleged the foreclosures disproportionately affected African Americans and that tax bills were wrongly inflated because of assessments that were simply too high.
  
  Specifically, the lawsuit claimed, thousands of Detroit homeowners who qualified for a poverty exemption excusing them from paying property taxes were unlawfully prevented from obtaining that exemption because of "needlessly complex and impenetrable application procedures improperly administered by the City of Detroit and the Detroit Citizens Board of Review."
  
  According to the City of Detroit, in 2014, 4,214 homeowners applied for the exemption with 3,678 receiving full exemptions, 127 receiving 50% exemptions, and 409 being denied. To qualify for a full exemption, income can't exceed $16,660 for a household of one, or $19,950 for a household of two.
  
  “We’re extremely pleased that the judge ruled that our case against the City of Detroit may go forward," ACLU of Michigan Legal Director Michael Steinberg said. "Thousands of impoverished Detroiters have lost their homes over the past few years because the process for obtaining poverty exemptions is so convoluted. We are confident we can put an end to this injustice.”

Source: Judge allows Wayne County foreclosure auctions to go on.

For the lawsuit, see Morningside Community Organization, et al. v. Sabree, et al.