Gene Cunningham, a Detroit Realtor, cheers during the rally in Lansing, Michigan on Sept. 17, 2008. The demonstration demanded the passage of SB 1306, which would halt foreclosures for two years. (Photo: Alan Pollock).
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
BY BEN SCHMITT and GRETA GUEST • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS • February 2, 2009
Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans announced today that his office is refusing to enforce sales of foreclosed homes as the real estate crisis continues to drain the region.
Evans made the announcement this morning at a press conference, several days after he urged Gov. Jennifer Granholm to impose a moratorium on home foreclosures.
"Today I will be stopping all mortgage foreclosure sales in Wayne County beginning with the sale that was scheduled for this Wednesday," Evans said. "I am doing so because it's my opinion that recently enacted federal laws provide protections for homeowners facing foreclosure."
Evans said the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, approved by Congress last fall requires the Secretary of the Treasury to implement a plan to mitigate foreclosures and to encourage services of mortgagers to modify loans to enable homeowners to stay in their homes.
He said federal law pre-empts state law.
Evans’ spokesman John Roach said the sheriff’s office conducted sales last year on 21,622 foreclosed properties and collected a statutory fee of $50 per property or $1.08 million.
Granholm's spokeswoman last week said the governor did not have the authority to impose a moratorium.
Evans is also running for mayor of Detroit.
The sheriff’s sale triggers the six-month redemption period under Michigan law where the homeowner can reclaim the home by making up payments to the lender. If the homeowner does nothing during the redemption period, the bank can repossess the home.
“The lenders are going to be very upset because they need to have a sheriff’s sale to begin the redemption. He’s going to be fighting with the lenders, that’s for certain,” said John Graham, a Realtor with Keller Williams in St. Clair Shores.
Graham said that few properties sell at the sheriff’s sale as they are offered at the amount owed on the mortgage. Since so many Wayne County properties have lost their equity, few investors are willing to pay the full price and instead wait for the house to go on the market at a foreclosure price.
Tricia Raymond, a foreclosure expert and buyer’s agent in Troy, doubted the effectiveness of Evans’ proposal given the high unemployment rate in Michigan.
“It’s one thing to work something out with someone, but if they don’t have a job there’s not anything to work out,” she said. “It’s not going to save everyone.”
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