Neighbors Knock on Doors to Help Tenants Avoid Eviction

In the U.S. state of Michigan, Detroit’s financial crisis back in 2008 led to overwhelming property tax foreclosures. But neighbors have since gathered in an initiative that’s helping the community keep – and potentially even own – their homes.

A 2018 study found that a quarter of properties in Detroit were subject to foreclosure for unpaid property taxes between 2011 and 2015. Foreclosures are automatically triggered if property tax payments are not paid for three years in a row – and renters are most vulnerable, not realizing their landowners haven’t been paying the tax and that they were at risk of eviction.

The Neighbor to Neighbor programme, launched in 2017, consists of a group of 450 people fighting this crisis, by knocking on doors and alerting all homeowners and renters whose homes are at risk.

As explained by Laura Grannemann of Quicken Loans Community Fund, which runs Neighbor to Neighbor, the idea is to reach all those in danger as early as possible and find potential solutions, such as if they are qualified for tax exemptions or if the city could help renters pay off the due taxes and buy the homes for themselves. In 2018 alone, Neighbor to Neighbor helped more than 4,3000 families avoid foreclosure – 500 of which transformed themselves from tenants to owners.