“Our driving force is to keep people in their homes, help them pay their taxes, and maintain their properties,” explains county treasurer Latitia Lamelle Sharp. “We’re by no means just bankers. We have a heart for our residents.” | Photo by Mark Bialek
Yet by April only eleven were actually foreclosed and sold, and all of them were vacant: ten lots and one house.
“Our driving force is to keep people in their homes, help them pay their taxes, and maintain their properties,” explains county treasurer Latitia Lamelle Sharp. “We’re by no means just bankers. We have a heart for our residents.”
Historically, Washtenaw ranked as one of the lowest—if not the lowest—counties in Michigan for property foreclosures. The number peaked at 637 in 2008 during the housing crash but has since dropped dramatically.
Sharp gives much of the credit to the innovative property tax assistance program created by her predecessor, Catherine McClary. She was the first treasurer in Michigan to hire a team dedicated to keeping property owners in their homes, including tax specialists and a social worker.
McClary served twenty-seven years before her death in December. Sharp is continuing her work while hoping to add another staff member and educational programming.
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“After my election, I was shocked to see how small the team is, considering the scope of their responsibilities,” Sharp says. “They answer questions over the phone, knock on doors, learn property owners’ stories, research title work, complete mountains of paperwork on residents’ behalf, educate homeowners about the tax process, provide foreclosure-prevention measures, and try to match individuals with community resources.” Sharp requested that the Observer not use her team members’ names.
In Michigan, property owners with delinquent taxes have a three-year grace period to pay those taxes (with interest) or face forfeiture and foreclosure. Most—but not all—property owners respond quickly to notices of tax delinquency, either paying or requesting assistance. When back taxes reach the second year of delinquency, the properties are forfeited to the county treasurer. If the taxes are still unpaid as of March 31 in the third year of delinquency, they are foreclosed upon.
The property tax assistance staff works to prevent evictions by drawing on a wide-ranging network of agencies and local resources dedicated to helping homeowners retain—and even maintain—their properties. The team is powerful in its impact, though small in numbers: two tax specialists and one social worker, who works face-to-face with property owners in distress.
The social worker has even, on rare occasions, accompanied elderly or disabled homeowners to meetings, agencies, and even a critical doctor’s appointment. She has connected homeowners in distress to find local resources to help them acquire new roofs, wheelchair ramps, heating systems, and necessary home repairs.
“This team doesn’t have nine-to-five jobs,” Sharp says. “We believe everyone has a story, and everyone deserves to have their stories told. This team works tirelessly.”
“A personal, human element takes a lot more time than posting mailings,” one tax specialist points out. “But it benefits us all—our fellow residents and our community—as we try to keep people in their homes.” The law requires the treasurer to send three mailings before moving to foreclosure measures—“but we mail at least five to delinquent properties before the forfeiture notices,” the tax specialist observes.
“We’re here to listen to people’s stories and offer resources so they can meet their tax obligations and stay in their homes,” adds the social worker. “Nowadays we’re dealing with a majority of baby boomers and veterans, who may be facing a number of challenges beyond paying their taxes. We look for every opportunity to meet them in person and help.”
She often appears on homeowners’ doorsteps, armed with lists of social services that can address the concerns she sees and hears about, ranging from the need for a wheelchair ramp to a new stove or roof to restoring shut-off utilities.
The program also offers tax reductions for individuals with disabilities, low-income homeowners, and seniors who are struggling financially. “Sometimes disabled veterans are unaware that they can file for an exemption from paying real property taxes on their principal residence,” the social worker says.
“In some cases, cash-strapped homeowners can get hardship exemptions from foreclosure—although in that case, the taxes will need to be paid, with interest, in the future,” Sharp adds.
Team members have been known to contact family members of seniors suffering from dementia; connect veterans to VA programs; petition courts for a guardian or conservator for incapacitated homeowners; research assisted-living options; translate paperwork for foreign-speaking residents; help homeowners acquire principal residence exemptions on their property taxes; and refer others to plumbers, electricians, and housing services.
“My job is to listen to people’s stories and challenges,” says the social worker. “Often people who qualify for those programs don’t know they are eligible, let alone how to apply for them. We can connect them to organizations and services that can help.”
The treasurer’s office has partnered with Habitat for Humanity, Jewish Family Services, Friends In Deed, Barrier Busters, Legal Services of Southeastern Michigan, the MSU Extension service, and the Housing Bureau for Seniors. Legal Services of Southeastern Michigan, and the county Office of Community and Economic Development help prevent mortgage foreclosure.
This year, the team has an additional responsibility: searching for property owners whose properties were foreclosed in the recent past to offer compensation for the sales.
Michigan’s 1999 tax foreclosure law allowed counties to auction off foreclosed properties and keep all proceeds after paying the associated taxes and fees. But the following year, Oakland County foreclosed on a property owner over a $285 tax debt, sold it for $24,500, and kept the entire amount.
The owner sued, and that and another Oakland case made their way to the Michigan Supreme Court, which ruled that the county’s actions were unconstitutional. The legislature then changed the law to require any excess be returned to the owner, and later made the change retroactive to 2014. Sharp’s staff are now seeking out anyone who might have been shortchanged.
“This team makes a difference in people’s lives,” she says. “It’s much more sustainable to help keep people housed and their properties maintained. We listen to our neighbors’ stories and offer help—and we’re anticipating that more help will be needed in the coming years.”
But the new treasurer is also keeping a wary eye on federal spending cuts and rising property taxes. “Changes at the federal level can have a trickle-down effect on the services available at the local level,” she says. And “I’m actually fearful that the increase in [local] millages will mean an increase in tax foreclosures.”