Judge blocks Real Token from collecting rent on blighted Detroit properties

A Wayne County Circuit Court judge has issued a temporary restraining order against real estate investment firm Real Token, blocking them from collecting rent on hundreds of Detroit homes until the properties meet city codes.

The order is tied to the city’s largest public nuisance lawsuit in history. Detroit filed the suit earlier this month, citing blight violations at more than 400 residential properties owned by Real Token.

Detroit Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallett says tenants will soon be instructed to pay rent into an escrow account starting in August.

“We will be doing direct door-to-door outreach, and will have specific direction for the tenants as to where their rent money should go in the next seven days,” Mallett said.

Paying into the escrow, he says, will protect tenants from eviction due to nonpayment.

The restraining order also blocks Real Token from pursuing evictions at any property without a certificate of compliance. The company was ordered to secure 58 vacant blighted homes and correct all code violations within 90 days.

Company owners Remy and Jean-Marc Jacobson released a statement blaming property managers for the conditions of the homes. Mallett dismissed that claim.

“These properties are in such a degraded state that there is no way that interested owners, no matter whom they farmed out the responsibility to, would not know that their tenants are living in substandard housing.”

Since filing the suit, the city has identified an additional 130 Real Token properties that also lack certificates of compliance.

Uber launches women-only ride option in Detroit

Uber is piloting a new feature in select cities, including Detroit, that allows women to match only with female drivers. Riders will be able to select the option when scheduling or ordering a ride on demand. Female drivers can also choose to accept only ride requests from women.

The change comes in response to Uber’s most recent safety report, which cited more than 2,500 cases of sexual assault and misconduct between 2021 and 2022.

Dearborn opens applications for women’s career program

Dearborn is now accepting applications for the second round of its WORKS program—short for Women’s Opportunity to Realize their Knowledge and Skills. The program is designed to help women gain employment and advance their careers.

Participants will receive financial literacy training, attend professional development workshops, and take part in an eight-week business boot camp. Applications are open through August 15, with the program launching in September. More information is available at dearborn.gov/BusinessResources.

People Mover station renamed as downtown redevelopment continues

The Detroit People Mover station once known for serving Joe Louis Arena is getting a new name: Water Square Station.

City officials say the name reflects the nearby development of hotels and luxury residences rising on the former arena site. The station will also provide access to the future Ralph C. Wilson Park, previously known as West Riverfront Park. Construction on the park is expected to wrap up later this year.

Detroit marks 8,000th demolition under Proposal N

The City of Detroit recently celebrated its 8,000th demolition under Proposal N. The proposal was a voter-approved $250 million bond to remove blight across the city. About a decade ago, there were 45,000 vacant land bank homes. The city used $265 million in federal funding to complete the first phase of the demolitions in the most populated neighborhoods.  

Other headlines for Monday, July 21, 2025

47 artists bring life to Detroit’s alleys

Detroit’s Arts, Culture, and Entrepreneurship office is opening nine art alleys. The Art Alleys feature mosaics… sculptures… and murals created by 47 local artists. The Detroit Arts Alleys Initiative is a project that hopes to renovate alleys into community spaces through public art. It’s also a part of Mayor Duggan’s Blight to Beauty campaign.  

EGLE seeks input on Line 5 pipeline permit

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy or EGLE, has opened public comment for a permit related to work on the Line 5 project in the Straits of Mackinac. The tunnel would replace a 70-year-old Line 5 oil and gas pipeline on the lakebed. Indigenous communities… say the Line 5 project trespasses through protected tribal land… which is used for livelihood… cultural and spiritual practices. Native communities and environmental activists also say the pipeline will have catastrophic consequences in the Great Lakes region if it ruptures… citing multiple leaks from the previous pipes. People can make a public comment from July 16 to August 29 about Enbridge Energy’s bid to work on the Line 5 tunnel project.  

Two virtual meetings will be held regarding the project… one as an informational session… and the other is a public hearing to collect comments on the record. People can also leave a comment online on EGLE’s public notice page.

West Nile detected in Michigan, no human cases yet

Health agencies report new cases of West Nile and similar viruses in mosquito samples around Michigan. Wasthenaw County health officials confirmed a positive sample of Jamestown Canyon virus, and Kent County reported three samples of West Nile virus from routine mosquito surveillance.  

No human cases have been found in Michigan so far this year. The uptick in mosquitoes is typical for this time for year but health officials are asking people to take precautions like using repellent and removing standing water around homes.  

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

The city of Detroit is suing a blockchain real estate company after many of its properties allegedly violated local safety and health codes.

Real Token, or RealT, is a Florida-based company that markets itself as a decentralized real estate security token platform. In the lawsuit, the city alleges that the company’s co-founders, brothers Remy Jacobson and Jean-Marc Jacobson, have neglected over 400 properties in the city by failing to maintain basic health and safety requirements.

“We’re talking about roofs that are leaking, sewage leaking in the basements. We have standing water as well in many of the basements…408 properties, 408 properties and not one of them has a certification of compliance,” said Detroit City Councilmember James Tate of the violations at a press conference.

Conrad Mallett, corporation counsel for the city of Detroit, joined The Metro on Tuesday to share more details about the lawsuit.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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Detroit officials say they’ve filed the “largest blight lawsuit in its history” against a blockchain-based real estate platform after it failed to maintain hundreds of residential properties in the city.

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Real Token, also known as RealT, is a Florida-based company that markets itself as a decentralized real estate security token platform. In the lawsuit, the city alleges that the company’s co-founders, brothers Remy Jacobson and Jean-Marc Jacobson — and their 165 affiliated companies — have neglected over 400 properties in Detroit by failing to maintain basic health and safety requirements, leading to widespread code violations and blight.

Detroit’s Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallet says the city wants them to pay $500,000 in blight tickets and ensure their properties pass compliance inspections.  

“We are also asking the judge to hold the Jacobson brothers personally liable for the circumstances that their tenants find themselves,” he said. “We are also asking the judge to take control of the entire process so that even the vacant properties are properly attended to [and] properly registered.”

Mallet says Real token used a complex web of shell companies to avoid responsibility for keeping up their properties.  

Real Token says it paid their parties to manage the properties and blamed them for the problems.  

“We are sending a message,” Mallet wrote in a statement, “no matter how innovative your business model may be, you cannot hide behind technology or corporate formalities to evade your responsibilities as a property owner.”

Other headlines for Thursday, July 3, 2025:

• More than 6,000 signatures have been collected by the group Dearborn Wants Wards to change the city council from an at-large body to district-based seats.
• The Michigan House has passed two bills that give police the ability to test for controlled substances during traffic stops.
• AAA says it expects almost 2.5 million people in Michigan to travel this Fourth of July weekend. State officials say they are suspending roadwork at more than 100 project sites over the holiday weekend to help ease traffic congestion.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.