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Council asks law staff to study winter eviction moratoria and emergency tenant protections
Summary
After public commenters described evictions and a homeless mother seeking shelter, the council assigned the Law Department and Legislative Policy Division to research whether a city ordinance or mayoral executive order could pause evictions or utility shutoffs during frigid weather and report back.
A wave of public comments about recent evictions and a caller who said she and her two children were made homeless during a snowstorm prompted Detroit City Council members to seek legal options for winter-time protections.
Unique Edwards, who said she and her children were evicted in late January during a snowstorm, described being removed from a three-bedroom home and losing possessions, and asked the council for help finding shelter and legal remedies. "I was evicted during a snowstorm," Edwards said; council members offered immediate contact numbers and shelter referrals.
Council member Amber Callaway moved that the Legislative Policy Division and the Law Department research options for a moratorium on evictions during frigid weather and whether an executive order or ordinance could be used to restrict evictions or related utility shutoffs. "Is this right for an executive order from the administration?" Callaway asked; corporation counsel (Mr. Whitaker) said counsel would undertake legal research and return with a memorandum.
Members discussed past practice: council and staff noted that water shutoffs were not interrupted during some cold periods but that DWSD stated it does not interrupt service when freezing temperatures are current or forecast. Council members also requested review of any past legal authority to prevent utility terminations during winter and whether the city or mayor can act unilaterally.
The motion assigned LPD and Law to draft a written analysis and was approved without objection; the departments agreed to prepare a report and to include whether previous moratoria or executive orders applied and what enforcement mechanisms might look like.
What happens next: Law and LPD will return a written memo detailing legal options (ordinance vs. executive order), implementation challenges, and related funding or enforcement issues. Council members said they would use the memo to decide next steps, including referrals to standing committees or the agenda for further action.
Practical help given at the meeting included phone numbers for emergency shelter and a referral to the Housing Solutions Office and local nonprofits; councilmembers also said staff would follow up with individual callers.
