Legal Aid and Defender Association (LAD) will hold a free public meeting on Saturday, Aug 27 to educate Detroiters about the dangers of purchasing homes on land contracts in Detroit and Wayne County.
The event will be held from from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Plymouth United Church of Christ, 600 E. Warren Ave.
The meeting will feature a panel of speakers who will discuss land contract law in Michigan as well as answer questions from residents. LAD attorneys will be present to provide advice to individual residents regarding land contract issues.
Currently, LAD is representing victims of what appears to be a major residential property scam in the city and the county.
According to LAD, out-of-state companies appear to be in the business of buying thousands of foreclosed homes for as little as a dollar each, then selling them to residents on land contracts without informing purchasers about past-due property taxes, utility bills or other liens on the homes that become the responsibility of the new owners.
In some cases, this can mean that the new owner owes several thousand dollars in taxes and utility bills on the home.
LAD has filed a lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court in such a case claiming damages of more than $25,000 and is preparing to file additional lawsuits on behalf of other purchasers of these land contracts.
“We have opened several of these cases in recent months, which usually indicates that there could be hundreds of residents in Detroit and Wayne County who are victims of this scam,” Deierdre L. Weir, LAD president and CEO, said. “We want to get the word out to residents to be on the alert if they are purchasing a home on a land contract.”
There is nothing illegal or wrong with selling a home on land contract, Weir stressed.
“What’s important is that a title search takes place before the purchase to make sure there are no liens or prior financial responsibilities that will become the responsibility of the new owner,” she said.
LAD is Michigan’s largest provider of free civil legal services to low-income residents. It serves metropolitan Detroit through its offices in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties. It also represents criminal defendants in Wayne County and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Including brief consultations and comprehensive legal services, the public law firm handles some 15,000 legal matters yearly.
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