“Talmer Bank is committing up to $1 million in forgivable loans for people who commit to buying homes in an area south of Marygrove College in Detroit in upcoming auctions. The individual loans from Troy-based Talmer Bank require that the recipient live in the home and would be up to $25,000, with $5,000 of the loan forgiven for each year the owner stays in the home, up to five years total. The money could be used to rehabilitate or renovate homes in the neighborhood. The administration will target the owners of 79 abandoned homes that are still in good condition in a west-side Detroit neighborhood as it begins going after negligent landlords who leave houses to rot in a city flush with blight.”
http://www.freep.com/article/20140409/NEWS01/304090028/Detroit-blight-Mike-Duggan