Prentice and his Home Team colleagues contend they have a plan to solve one of Detroit’s biggest problems: stopping the hemorrhaging of home foreclosures from unpaid property taxes. The group wants the right to buy thousands of northwest properties before they end up in the tax auction, which it will then work to fix up while offering paths for tenants to become homeowners.
The group’s financing plans are centered around the controversial land contract system. Also known as contracts for deeds, land contracts are alternatives to mortgages. Tenants make payments directly to the property owner and often have no ownership stake until the entire debt is paid.
Developer wants to buy every site set for tax auction on 25-square-mile swath of Detroit