As the City of Detroit bulldozes thousands of homes, it has maintained a small, and largely unsuccessful program that allows people to buy homes for as little as $1,000. The low-priced home purchases come with a long list of provisions.

Reuters recently reported on the extent to which Detroit plans to destroy parts of the city, which has lost half its population since the 1960s and has less than 700,000 residents today.

Nowhere in America bulldozes derelict homes with Detroit’s ferocity, as the city that has become a byword for U.S. urban decay seeks to engineer a recovery by tearing itself down.

A year after the city exited the biggest-ever U.S. municipal bankruptcy, a plan to demolish half of its nearly 80,000 blighted or deteriorating structures — nearly one in three city buildings — is showing some signs of success.

“Building Detroit” has an auction system in which homes go under the gavel for as little as $1,000. Buyers may be put off by a long list of conditions, which runs into the thousands or words:

• You must be a Michigan resident, a non-Michigan resident who will live in the property after rehab, or a company or organization authorized to do business in Michigan.
• You, or any legal entity in which you have an ownership interest, cannot have unpaid delinquent property taxes on properties located in Wayne County, or have lost property to back taxes in Wayne County in the last three years.
• You, or any legal entity in which you have an ownership interest, cannot have material unresolved blight or code violations in the City of Detroit.
• You cannot have won a previous auction and then failed to make the down payment, close on the purchase, or satisfy the conditions of bringing the property up to code and having it occupied within 6 months 9 months for homes located in a historic district).
• You are limited to the purchase of one auction property until you have brought the first property up to code and have had it occupied within 6 months (9 months for homes located in a historic district). Once you have demonstrated the ability to meet the terms of the purchase agreement by successfully bringing the property up to code and having the property occupied, you can purchase one property per month. However, you will not be able to purchase any further properties if any property that was previously purchased is not in compliance with all requirements outlined in the purchase agreement. Please note, that this rule limiting the amount of properties that can be purchased may come into effect before the 6 month (9 month) deadline for any property that is purchased and not in compliance as determined by the DLBA. This rule shall also apply to all bidders that have won previous auction bids and have not completed the rehabilitation of at least one property and have it occupied within the required time period.
• If you use a legal entity to purchase the property, you must have an ownership interest in it. This legal entity, and all other legal entities in which you have an ownership interest, is limited to the purchase of one auction property until the legal entity has brought the first property up to code and has it occupied within 6 months (9 months for homes located in a historic district).   Once the legal entity has demonstrated the ability to meet the terms of the purchase agreement by successfully bringing the property up to code and having the property occupied, it can purchase one property per month.  However, the legal entity will not be able to purchase any further properties if any property that was previously purchased is not in compliance with all requirements outlined in the purchase agreement. Please note, that this rule limiting the amount of properties that can be purchased may come into effect before the 6 month (9 month) deadline for any property that is purchased and not in compliance as determined by the DLBA. This rule shall also apply to all legal entities that have won previous auction bids and have not completed the rehabilitation of at least one property and have it occupied within the required time period.
• A Purchaser is ineligible to purchase a property from the Detroit Land Bank Authority if they or the entity that they are purchasing under are currently involved in a Bankruptcy Proceeding.
• A Purchaser is ineligible to purchase a property from the Detroit Land Bank Authority if they have an IRS lien filed against them or the entity that they are purchasing under.
• Any bidder who misrepresents themselves regarding these qualifications is subject to loss of payments and/or the property.
• In addition, the Detroit Land Bank reserves the right to exclude bidders with a history of delinquent taxes or code violations.

According to city records, the plan has been a massive failure, with only 645 homes sold since the program started on June 12, 2014.

The bulldozers are winning, and by a huge margin.

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