Open Letter to Detroit Land Bank Authority

Dear Detroit Land Bank Authority,

(Back story for this post can be found here: Land Bank, Red Tape, MI Hate, #Fixerupperdetroit Googles Squatters Rights,   and Why Detroit Can't Have Nice Things.)

I saw my wife for 20 minutes today. I drove home between shifts to see her because I didn't think I could wait to discuss this with her. I woke her from sleep because she is currently working nights as a family med resident saving lives at Henry Ford. She is also helping to organize medical care for homeless people in Royal Oak.

And she is trying to get #fixerupperdetroit ready to live in.

Of the 20 minutes I saw her today, I think we were either yelling or crying for about 17 of them. She is overwhelmed and doesn't know how she is going to keep on for another week and a half of night shifts. This is what your seizure notice has done to my wife, my beloved wife who does everything for everyone else, who persisted in buying a home in desperate need of repair from a seller who couldn't care less about the house or the neighborhood.

We spent 68 days trying to close to get this property away from the seller. Then we spent weeks setting up demolition, hiring someone to do landscaping, meeting the neighbors, and uncovering antiquated sewer lines, electrical dangers, plumbing leaks, and fiberglass insulation.

I'm sorry that the neighbors complained that the house was a nuisance before we bought it, or that your crew driving by noticed it looked vacant, or whatever caused you to post the sign, since you don't seem to have the story straight, but it turns out it takes time to turn around a 1928 home.

We're working at it. We have to - our mortgage requires it. Our current living situation requires it.

There are so many owners who aren't working at it. The person who owned our house before us (and who, rumor has it, owns multiple other properties). The person who still owns the house we spent the summer trying to buy. You'd be better off going after them. You claim, in fact, that you are going after them. In that case, why is a friend still fighting to execute a purchase agreement on a Parkside home, a house that has been vacant without climate control for multiple winters now? In that case, why didn't you seize our Greenacres property when our seller had it? The house was featured on Curbed in October 2014 and had been vacant the whole time. Why not go after the negligent landlords? You've got 99 problems, and we ain't one.

My dear wife cannot bear the thought of signing an agreement that would in any way allow you to take our home. After the fight we've had to buy it, signing any paperwork that would create even the tiniest possibility that we will not keep it is untenable to her. And I don't blame her. We've seen a lot of examples of government and corporate overreach in Michigan lately. We've been the victims of unfair housing laws already. She's not irrational for believing that you really might take our home.

I'm hoping that this is a misunderstanding, and that if I keep explaining to you, you will understand that we are not the enemy, we are not negligent, and we also are camels whose backs can't take another straw.

Every minute we spend fighting with you, every dollar we spend on legal fees is a minute and a dollar that isn't spent actually fixing up the property. Your actions are counterproductive. You are wasting your own resources and my resources, and I will not be silent.

So shame on you. Shame on you for terrifying my gentle wife who is already sleep deprived and overwhelmed. Shame on you for going after easy targets like us, who are law abiding, instead of focusing on the real problem. Shame on you for prioritizing certain neighborhoods over others.

Regards,

Committing in the Mitten