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City outlines enforcement timeline for defaulted Brightmoor Homes phases
Summary
Detroit code enforcement and housing staff told City Council the city issued more than 100 citations this year and that two sampled Brightmoor phases have passed recent HUD inspections; staff proposed a six‑month compliance timeline and increased enforcement.
Director Dave Bell, director of BC, told the Detroit City Council that the city is stepping up enforcement and coordinating with housing staff to bring multiple Brightmoor Homes phases into compliance.
Bell said Brightmoor Homes at one point included 230 single‑family homes across five phases and that “Brightmoor Homes 2 and 3” were in default under HUD Home Investment Partnership loans. He said the city has issued 102 tickets for noncompliance since January of this year and that reinspection is required under HUD’s sampling-based inspections.
The council heard that Brightmoor Homes 2 passed a reinspection on Nov. 6, 2024 and received a certificate of compliance from HRD, and that Brightmoor Homes 3 passed on Oct. 31, 2024. “BC will accept these home inspections as a form of compliance under the rental ordinance,” Bell said, but he cautioned that the certification applies only to the scattered‑site units that were part of the sampled inspections.
Council President Pro Tem James Tate said the update gives him a timeline he can share with residents who have pressed the council about the project for years. Tate thanked code enforcement staff “for the very dangerous work that they do” and said he will continue to press for progress, including increased legal action if compliance does not move forward.
Bell told council staff will work with the law department and the Housing and Revitalization Department (HRD) to “increase enforcement on this project with a proposed timeline of getting these houses in compliance within 6 months.” The council did not take a formal vote on a policy change at the hearing; the report was presented as an informational update and council members said they will follow up with the departments involved.
Why this matters: Brightmoor is a long‑running housing and neighborhood stability issue; the city’s use of HUD inspection results, multiple citations, and a stated six‑month enforcement timeline signal a push by enforcement and housing staff to resolve defaults and to protect residents living in affected units.
Council members and staff said they will continue interdepartmental coordination and that legal action is a possible next step if the current compliance timeline is not met.
The council then resumed the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation presentation.
