Bills aim to intensify blight battle in Michigan with threat of jail time

LANSING -- Owners who repeatedly fail to comply with orders to repair blighted and neglected property -- a particular problem in some Detroit neighborhoods -- could be jailed under legislation set for a hearing today in a state Senate committee.  

The bills are aimed at putting teeth into blight enforcement, a process that is too often drawn-out and ineffective, said lead sponsor Sen. Virgil Smith, D-Detroit.

"I'm sick and tired of the blight in my city," Smith said. "We need to give Detroit, and other cities throughout Michigan, the ability to go after bad actors.

"If you own property, you need to be responsible and clean it up, board it up or tear it down," Smith said.

The blight package, which has a bipartisan list of cosponsors, would allow cities to seek jail time for those who fail to remedy a second blight citation, and up to a year for three-time violators. It also would expedite the process of placing liens on blighted property and bar those with outstanding blight violations from obtaining building and zoning permits on other property.

Smith said that under current law it is too easy for a property owner to ignore violations. One property owner in Detroit who has been running a car repair business out of his home has a yard littered with auto parts and disabled vehicles, and pile of ordinance violations sitting in a desk drawer, Smith said.

Potential opposition to beefed-up blight enforcement comes from the Michigan Bankers Association, which is concerned that bank officials could be taken to task for violations on property they don't control.

When criminal sanctions for blight were enacted in Chicago, "banks were getting tagged before they even had ownership" of foreclosed properties, said Gail Madziar, with the Michigan Bankers Association. Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sued to block the process, she said.

Homeowners sometimes abandon property months before a foreclosure is finalized, Madziar said, and banks shouldn't be held responsible for violations that occur during that period.

Contact Dawson Bell: 517-372-8661 or dbell@freepress.com