Require home inspections when selling? No way, officials say

City officials are creating new Neighborhood Enterprise Zones to encourage housing improvements in exchange for property tax breaks. File photo

By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck is one step closer to creating new tax break zones for some property owners.
The city council is on the road to creating five Neighborhood Enterprise Zones (NEZ).
This first one is located off of Conant, and encompasses residential parcels bounded by Conant to the west, Vincent to the north, and Miller to the south.
According to the city administration the NEZ will offer property tax incentives to homeowners and developers “to encourage neighborhood investment, new construction, and rehabilitation, and stimulate revitalization in designated areas by reducing property taxes for up to 15 years, subject to compliance with state and local requirements, thereby enhancing the overall quality of life for residents.”
But something curious came up in this process.
While there is unanimous agreement in creating these zones, the council balked at a proposal by the city administration to require home inspections before they can be sold.
Home inspections are required when the purchase is made through a bank, but are not required when private individuals make a deal without the help of a bank, or federal loan.
Councilmembers were adamant that this proposed requirement is a no go.
Mayor Amer Ghalib was also against the proposal, and zeroed in on why, and it’s one that a number of residents have experienced.
Ghalib said he’s heard from homeowners who say that city inspectors hold up inspection approvals over “minor issues.”
He said that inspectors often don’t stop finding violations after their first inspection. Instead, according to homeowners, on return visits, inspectors find more things that need to be fixed or updated. They say that often causes months-long delays.
Councilmember Muhith Mahmood said this pattern by inspectors is annoying the public.
“Don’t add stuff when you go back and say ‘Oh, now you fix this,’” Mahmood said.
He continued: “Do the right thing, but you are overdoing it.”
City Manager Max Garbarino said that requirement can be struck out, although not for those in a NEZ district where they make improvements to their property.
He said inspections are needed because some of the houses could potentially be “death traps” where there is faulty electrical work that could cause a fire.
“You want to make sure the community is rising, and not deteriorating,” Garbarino said. “We’re not making this strenuous on anyone buying a home.”
Much of Hamtramck’s housing stock is about 100 years old – built at the time that housing codes were lax.
Ghalib said that it’s not the city’s job to say what you do with the house you live in.
“Everybody is saying that your city is crazy when it comes to the inspection department. … Why do we have to make it more difficult for people to get things done easily?”
Posted Nov. 22, 2024