About 85% of the rental properties in Detroit are owned by landlords with no legal right to collect rent, a discovery that could upend thousands of eviction cases, according to a coalition of housing attorneys and tenant advocates.
The post Most Detroit landlords have no legal right to collect rent, housing attorneys say appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.
For four decades, Detroit has had the same law on the books: a landlord can’t rent you a home until the city has inspected it and proven it is safe to live in. But almost nobody follows it. Today, roughly one in seven rentals actually meets that bar. The city rewrote the law in 2017 and again in 2024 to raise that number, yet it has barely moved.
Detroit is a sharp version of a problem you will find in many cities built on old, cheap housing. The law says, fix the place up, but the math says, don’t even bother. In other words, it can cost more to bring an old house up to code than the rent will ever pay back.
Here’s what that looks like in one house, near the Bagley neighborhood: Windows nailed shut, no heat on the second floor, sewage backing up into the basement.
Senior reporter Aaron Mondry at Outlier Media has uncovered these findings and reported on that family in the Bagley neighborhood. He joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss how the law is failing renters and landlords.
Later in the hour: Mondry has also reported on Detroit’s Right to Counsel program — the free lawyers who help tenants fight eviction, now facing a funding cliff. Chief Judge William McConico of the 36th District Court joins us to speak on what his courtroom would lose if that money runs dry.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and stream on-demand. Never miss an episode — subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, NPR, or wherever you get your podcasts.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
The post The Metro: Detroit keeps rewriting its rental safety law. Landlords keep ignoring it appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.
Login