Foreclosed Home Auction Contract Increases Macomb Income

A new agreement signed between the Sheriff’s Office of Macomb County, Michigan and foreclosed home auction contractor Writs Inc. will give the county a windfall of around $250,000 a year.

Over the years, the county never received income from the fees Writ earned from foreclosure auctions because this matter was not included in the contract. It was only when the county’s Board of Commissioners pursued a review of the initial agreement when things started to change.

Writs Inc. has been conducting weekly foreclosure auctions for the Sheriff’s Department for almost ten years, earning from foreclosure fees paid by lenders.

Under the original agreement, Writs would conduct the weekly foreclosure auctions for the Sheriff’s Office using office space, equipment, computers and supplies provided by the county. It would also employ its own office employees and service officers who would deliver notices and subpoenas to homeowners.

For years, the work of Writs for the county was not noticed. Even the hiring of Writs, which was formed by three former law enforcement officers, was largely unchallenged. This could be because the number of distressed homes in the initial years was negligible. In its first year, Writs auctioned only 705 repo properties.

Last year, the number of foreclosures reached 6,769. With a fee of $50 for each foreclosure filing, another $8 for every foreclosure adjournment and an additional fee for the delivery of personal protection orders and other notices, the profits of Writs from the foreclosure homes have shot up.

When the county decided to open up the foreclosure auction contract for bidding, Writs made an offer that the county is now likely to accept: 50 percent of all future profits.

Phil DiMaria, county commissioner and head of the County Board of Commissioners’ Public Safety and Corrections Committee, expressed elation at the development. Phil DiMaria said that the change is significant for the county and for the civil division of the Sheriff’s Office.

Writs Inc. won the competitive bidding which involved two other bidders, but its proposal will still be reviewed by the Board of Commissioners in the last week of August. However, its proposal already received unanimous approval from the Public Safety and Corrections Committee.

All in all, despite questions about the original contract given to Writs Inc. and misgivings about profiting from foreclosures, the county is expected to replace lost income from declining tax revenues with income from the foreclosure auctions.

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