NEWS & EVENTS
NEWS
Aug. 16, 2022
Renters and housing advocates aim to form a citywide tenants association to push for safe, affordable housing in Detroit. The Detroit Tenants Association would be a start for renters in the city to protect themselves, says Steven Rimmer, coordinator of the Tenants Association of New Center Plaza. Rent prices, he says, are rising and displacing longtime Detroiters.
"It's just been a struggle," says Detroit resident M. Lewis Bass, who is on a fixed income and has been a renter for 49 years.
For the full story from the Detroit Free Press, click the link below:
Aug. 15, 2022
"Detroit is a majority renter city, but information like how many rental properties there are and who owns them is limited, leaving gaps when it comes to improving housing conditions and reducing lead exposure from paint."
For the full story from Bridge Detroit, click the link below:
Aug. 8, 2022
National Low Income Housing president Diane Yentel told a U.S. Senate committee last week that the average U.S. minimum-wage worker would need to work 96 hours a week to afford rent on a two-bedroom home or 79 hours a week just to afford the rent of a one-bedroom home at the fair market rate.
Read the full story at the link below from the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
July 31, 2022
Ted Phillips, executive director of the Detroit-based United Community Housing Coalition, says the CERA program was the difference between being in the shelters, on the streets, in a car or in an abandoned building.
“There’s a lot to do," he says, "but we can’t throw up our hands.”
For the full story in the Detroit Free Press, click the link below:
May 17, 2022
Evictions disproportionately affect households headed by Black women, seniors, and people with disabilities, but Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield says a new Right to Counsel law set to take effect in Detroit will help stabilize the city's neighborhoods.
“Out of the 30,000 eviction cases in Detroit, only 4% of those tenants had an attorney,” Sheffield says. “Half of all of the evictions that took place in Detroit could have been avoided if they had an attorney."
Click the link below for the full story from WDET.
May 3, 2022
The Gilbert Family Foundation, along with ProMedica and DTE Energy, announced a $20 million home-repair fund today that they anticipate will help more than 1,000 Detroit homeowners over the next three years.
Click the link below for the full story from The Detroit News.
April 19, 2022
Detroit City Council president Mary Sheffield says she and her colleagues are working hard to address a longstanding issue of overassessed taxes in the city of Detroit. This large overestimate is impacting thousands of homeowners.
Click the link below to watch the full report from WXYZ-TV, Channel 7.
March 31, 2022
A ruling issued Tuesday by a Wayne County judge will keep some owner-occupied properties out of tax foreclosure for the next year. Judge Timothy Kenny agreed to extend the redemption period through March 31, 2023, due to the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the availability of federal funds. The order does not apply to property owners with tax debt in 2016 or prior years.
For the full story in The Detroit News, click the link below.
March 23, 2022
The March 31 deadline for Wayne County residents to avoid foreclosure is fast approaching. People with property tax debt from 2019 or prior years have until the end of the month to pay off their back taxes or enter into a payment plan with the Treasurer’s office before their property goes to auction in the fall.
For the full story from the Detroit Free Press, click the link below.
March 22, 2022
While occupied foreclosures have been declining in Detroit, the number of non-owner foreclosures has been rising, leaving tenants in the crosshairs of Wayne County's annual auction. | Bridge Detroit
For the full story, click the link below.
March 15, 2022
UCHC executive director Ted Phillips recently spoke with WDET's Russ McNamara to discuss Wayne County's upcoming foreclosure deadline and the movement for a right to legal representation for low-income Detroiters who can't afford their own counsel.
To listen to the interview, click the link below.
March 14, 2022
“A disaster is headed for Wayne County," says the Freep's Nancy Kaffer, "but Eric Sabree can stop it. Sabree, the county treasurer, could ask a Wayne County Circuit Court judge to halt the tax foreclosures of more than 4,000 owner-occupied homes. … Sabree has asked the court to halt foreclosures before. He can do it again.”
For the full story, click the link below.
March 9, 2022
UCHC executive director Ted Phillips is filling in this week as guest curator of Outlier Media's weekly housing and real estate newsletter, "The Dig." Along with Ted's insightful editorial on Wayne County's upcoming March 31 property-tax foreclosure deadline, this week's issue also features a compelling interview with attorney Tonya Myers Phillips, who's working with local housing advocates to bring a “Right to Counsel” law to Detroit.
For the full story, click the link below.
Feb. 14, 2022
The new $243 million Michigan Homeowner Assistance Fund aims to help Michiganders stay in their homes, including homeowners with land contracts, reports Bridge Detroit.
UCHC executive director Ted Phillips says he's hopeful the program will hit the ground running because many people could lose their homes if action isn't taken fairly quickly.
For the full story, click the link below.
Feb. 7, 2022
Last summer, heavy rain flooded thousands of basements in Detroit and the city was honest about what happened — the pumps just couldn’t keep up. On Monday, Mayor Mike Duggan announced a new effort to get into homes and install new equipment to keep basements dry.
To watch the video report from Channel 4, click the link below.
Feb. 7, 2022
Amid a national housing crisis, giant private equity firms have been buying up apartment buildings en masse to squeeze them for profit, with the help of government-backed Freddie Mac. Meanwhile tenants say they’re the ones paying the price.
To read the full story from ProPublica, click the link below:
Jan. 28, 2022
The Wayne County Treasurer's Office is expected to resume all tax foreclosures this year, and taxpayers are encouraged to get on a payment plan before March 14 if needed.
"This year, we're foreclosing," says Wayne County Treasurer Eric Sabree. "We're not making any special category on what we're not going to do. Everything that's scheduled for foreclosure is on schedule for foreclosure."
To read the full story in the Detroit Free Press, click the link below:
Senate Dems / April 6, 2020
“As we all hear that the coronavirus is particularly fatal for seniors, it is often the low-income seniors — the most vulnerable of the senior population, living in multiple dwelling units — that are left to fend for themselves,” said Claudia Sanford, Director of Tenant Organizing for the United Community Housing Coalition and Chair of Senior Housing Preservation-Detroit. “Staying at home is not always possible and social distancing in buildings of more than 200 seniors and disabled individuals with only two elevators is not possible. The donation of surgical masks to the United Community Housing Coalition for distribution will make it possible for low-income seniors to have a better chance at survival during this crisis. This is the kind of help and leadership that is needed during a pandemic.”
Yahoo! Fiance / April 3, 2020
"In mid-March, Quicken Loans Community Fund (QLCF) and the Gilbert Family Foundation committed $1.2 million to address local COVID-19 impacts — including $500,000 to the United Way, $250,000 to the United Community Housing Coalition to address housing effects, and $450,000 to float small businesses."
MetroTimes / March 24, 2020
"Last week, the Wayne County Treasurer announced a total moratorium on tax foreclosures for the year 2020 due to the state of emergency caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Suddenly, the pressure was off for over 12,000 properties, including 8,000 occupied homes in Detroit that were likely to be foreclosed this year."
Bridge MI / March 21, 2020
"United Community Housing Coalition is helping answer questions regarding a landlord-tenant or other eviction matter in Detroit. If you need assistance call (313) 355-3352 or email UCHC at eviction@uchcdetroit.org."
Curbed Detroit / March 16, 2020
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"Renter-occupied households now make up about 44 percent of living spaces in Detroit, according to a December 2019 estimate by the apartment listing site RentCafé. In an even more dramatic finding, a Detroit Future City study found that around 2017 the number of renters actually surpassed the number of homeowners in Detroit for the first time since 1950."
Detroit News / March 16, 2020
"The Quicken Loans Community Fund and Gilbert Family Foundation on Monday announced a combined $1.2 million donation to help vulnerable residents and small businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic."
Michigan News / March 9, 2020
"The work that I do with Poverty Solutions is done closely with Detroit’s United Community Housing Coalition, where we focus on applied housing policy research and program evaluation. In some form, all of my current work revolves around the injustice of property tax foreclosures in the city of Detroit. In 2017, I worked with both Poverty Solutions and the United Community Housing Coalition on a project that examined Detroit’s Poverty Tax Exemption, a program that exempts residents with low incomes from their property tax obligation. We found that 40,000 people were eligible for the program, and only about 4,000 were receiving it."
Curbed Detroit / March 9, 2020
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“Here’s the problem: rents in the city continue to rise, which means these deals get harder to make every year because the incentives to remove low-income folks get more profitable,” Duggan said at a press conference announcing the partnership. “We said, ‘To save [more affordable units], we need a little help.’”
Rebusiness Online / March 10, 2020
"Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and his Housing & Revitalization Department (HRD) have created a new partnership to preserve affordable housing in the city while also improving its quality and preventing displacement. The partnership comprises the city’s housing department along with a number of housing experts, including Enterprise Community Partners, United Community Housing Coalition, a partnership between Cinnaire and CHN Housing Partners, Data Driven Detroit, Elevate Energy and Community Investment Corp. Enterprise Community Partners will lead the team and create action plans for preserving units."
Detroit News / March 9, 2020
"The City of Detroit has formed a partnership with six organizations to preserve affordable housing in the city, improve housing stock and prevent displacement."
DS News / March 3, 2020
"“This year we set out to increase the number of Detroit families assisted through HPTAP, and I am proud of our work in collaboration with Quicken Loans Community Fund, United Community Housing Coalition, and community groups to meet this goal,” said Detroit Chief Financial Officer David Massaron with the announcement of the HPTAP program expansion."
FOX 2 Detroit / February 28, 2020
"I put my faith in United Housing Coalition and it worked, I would recommend anybody for this program that's losing their homes who think they have to leave, they don't. They can help you," Kennedy said.
National Mortgage Professional Magazine / February 28, 2020
"The Quicken Loans Community Fund, City of Detroit and United Community Housing Coalition (UCHC) announced that 557 properties entered into Detroit’s Make It Home program during 2019, bringing the program’s total to 1,157 families were able to avoid tax-foreclosure related displacement. The Make It Home program launched in 2017."
The Detroit News / February 27, 2020
“Who better to buy it but the person who already lives there,” said Michele Oberholtzer, director of Tax Foreclosure Prevention with the United Community Housing Coalition. “Every neighborhood in Detroit is made stronger because of this program.”
WDET / January 24, 2020
"Brick + Beam Detroit, a non-profit offering online resources and workshops for homeowners, is teaming up to offer a series focused on appealing property tax assessments."
