Wayne County extends deadline to beat house foreclosure

By Charles Sercombe
Behind on your property taxes and facing foreclosure?
Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz, who is a Hamtramck resident, has your back.
Wojtowicz announced this week he is extending the time to catch up on taxes owed and avoid foreclosure until May 12.
The only catch is it has be the house you live in and claim as your primary residence.
All other properties facing foreclosure must be redeemed immediately. The new deadline was the result of new legislation supported by Wojtowicz and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.
“It is my intent to keep people in their homes and I need more time to allow homeowners to access this new process,” Wojtowicz said in a press release.
Not only is there an extension, Wojtowicz said interest charged on delinquent taxes will be reduced from 18% to 6% if the taxpayer enters into an Interest Reduction Stipulated Payment Agreement (IRSPA).
The plan also requires taxpayers to pay 10% of the base taxes as a down payment and then pay 3% of the base taxes on a monthly basis. These payments would last for almost five years. During that time the taxpayer cannot allow any new taxes to go delinquent.
As of March 15 out of 75,000 properties facing foreclosure 37,000 properties were already assisted in avoiding foreclosure either by paying the taxes or entering into an arrangement that, if property owners are compliant, will assist in avoiding foreclosure. Of the 38,000 properties still facing foreclosure 58% are not occupied meaning about 16,000 occupied properties still face foreclosure.
“While we are glad to see that number is significantly reduced we continue our efforts to get every occupied property out of foreclosure,” said Wojtowicz.