NOVI, Mich. (WXYZ) — The home of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is approaching foreclosure.
County documents confirm Kilpatrick and his wife are nearly $50,000 behind on their property taxes and are currently in forfeiture. The house, located in Novi, is worth nearly $1 million, but if it goes to auction, it could go for a fraction of that.
Watch Whitney Burney's video report below:
I stopped by the home early Monday morning for an interview, but no one answered the door. Neighbors confirmed off camera that Kilpatrick and his wife still live at the home in the area of Beck Road and 9 Mile Road.
According to documents from the county, the former mayor owes $26,601 in property taxes for the year 2024 and $24,007 for 2025, for a grand total of more than $50,000 in unpaid taxes.
Oakland County Treasurer Robert Wittenberg explained the timeline for property tax collection.
"It’s in essence a three-year process. The way it works is you owe your current taxes when you have your current tax bill — you usually get one in the summer and one in the winter. Then you have until March 1 of the following year to pay it to your local community. If you don’t pay it to the local community, after that first year, it’s called delinquent," Wittenberg said.
Wittenberg said when year two passes, non-payment of property tax results in forfeiture, and the county puts a lien on the property. When year three approaches, homeowners who haven’t paid back taxes or arranged a payment plan will have their property foreclosed and sent to auction.
For Kilpatrick, that foreclosure date would be April 1, 2027, and the home could go for far less than its nearly $1 million value.
"The minimum bid is the taxes interest, fees and any maintenance costs that were incurred and then there’s actually a set percentage — I think the law changed, I think it’s three or four percent that’s added as well," Wittenberg said.
This is part of longstanding financial issues for the embattled former mayor. Kilpatrick is still working to pay back more than $800,000 in restitution after striking a deal with federal prosecutors earlier this year tied to his conviction on corruption.
—————
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
