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Caller alleges city transferred neighbor’s lot below market, cites delayed inspector general report
Summary
A caller at a Detroit City Council public-comment session alleged the city removed a lot from a tax auction and transferred it to Midtown Inc for under $3,000 despite a $25,000 offer from a neighbor; she said the Office of Inspector General delayed its report and that the city is pressuring the neighbor.
A resident who identified herself for the record as Miss Warwick accused city officials at a Detroit City Council public-comment session of improperly handling a neighborhood property and said the Office of Inspector General (OIG) failed to act promptly.
Miss Warwick said neighbor Cindy Dara had owned or had an interest in the lot at 498 Peterborough for more than a decade and offered $25,000 for it. According to the caller, the city removed the parcel from a tax auction and transferred it to Midtown Inc for "less than $3,000," then the property went to Peterborough Properties and was later advertised at substantially higher prices. "According to documents we've seen, the Midtown Inc got it for less than $3,000, gave it to Peterborough Properties, flipped it for 150,000," Miss Warwick said, adding that she later saw it listed for $750,000.
The caller said the Office of Inspector General sat on an inquiry through two inspectors for about two-and-a-half years and described the resulting report as inadequate. "The OIG sat on it through 2 inspectors for about 2 and a half years, wrote a report I'd be embarrassed to have turned in as a high schooler," she said. She also alleged the city had engaged in other tactics to force Ms. Dara from the property, including shutting off water and cutting down trees that the caller said were healthy.
Clerk staff responded in the meeting that "We are working with Cindy Dara on this issue," but the council did not take a formal vote or make a public finding during the session.
The allegations cited by the caller include specific dollar amounts and a timeline of transactions that were not corroborated on the council record during the meeting. The caller said she and others have filed or intend to file an inspector-general complaint; the caller said Ms. Dara was waiting for the OIG report and did not reject an offered easement of "10 feet along the lot" pending that report.
The matter was raised during the public-comment portion of the meeting; no council member present made a substantive response on the record during the session. Next procedural steps were not announced publicly beyond staff saying they were "working with" the resident.
