Christian Nwobu, owner of 23 rental properties in Lansing with delinquent property tax balances, will need to come up with $102,499 by March 31 to avoid foreclosure.
The number represents what he owes through the 2022 tax year. If it’s not paid by then, Ingham County will seize those properties and try to sell them to compensate for the lost tax revenue. Nwobu’s dues place him second on a list of the top 10 highest delinquent totals in the county this year.
Ingham County Treasurer Alan Fox recently shared that list with City Pulse, along with a larger document, published in last week and this week’s print editions, citing every property in danger of foreclosure: 954 properties. Collectively, the top 10 entries owe $686,205.
Fox said he expects nine of the 10 will be paid off before the foreclosure process begins April 1. Owners like Nwobu “know what the system is, and the history is that they’re going to pay,” he said.
But with an 18% interest rate on late payments, he wonders why some choose to wait so long. The interest fees will be used to fund foreclosure prevention programs for residents facing foreclosure on their homes.
“They’re probably funding a full-time equivalent in my office to do foreclosure prevention. I’m happy to have the money, but it doesn’t make much sense to me as a business model,” Fox said.
Until now, the county hadn’t produced a top 10 list since 2015 and 2016, when the top 10 entries combined to owe more than $1 million and $858,139.17, respectively. While those totals have decreased, so too have the number of delinquent properties.
At less than 1,000, this year’s full list has 600 fewer entries than in 2011, when the housing crash was still devastating the market. From then through 2016, the county had 1,300 or more properties approaching foreclosure annually. Since Fox took over the county treasurer role from his predecessor, Eric Schertzing, in 2022, he said 50 to 60 properties end up in foreclosure per year.
Schertzing, who served as treasurer since 2001, has seen the numbers improving. Still, he seconded Fox’s take that many multi-property owners tend to wait until the last minute to pay.
“Nwobu and others play different pieces of the asset game, and I think some of them really do factor it into their business model. Yes, it’s costing them something, but they may be waiting to be paid by somebody for a few months’ rent, or get another place rented out. The hope is that they’ll have a big payday and get caught up,” he said.
Nwobu, who owes amounts ranging from $2,000 to just under $14,000 on primarily single-family rental properties in Lansing, did not respond to requests for comment. He also manages more than a dozen properties for Manfred Woelfel, an owner residing in Germany who owes $52,454 on 10 properties. Woelfel was eighth on the list.
“He’s not our strongest operator,” Schertzing said of Nwobu. “But if you walk along the main corridors, there’s just a lot of rough properties. Somebody’s going to have to own them,” Schertzing said.
Other landlords like Nwobu who were also listed in the top 10 include various limited liability companies controlled by members of the Zeineh family, who came in at fourth overall with $65,885 due on 17 properties in Lansing and Lansing Township. Another, listed seventh, is 917 Chittock Street LLC, which owes $60,169 on 13 properties. Its agent is Neil Wright.
Fox expects all three to pay up. But he has concerns over how that business model could impact tenants.
“These are largely people who have a long history with us, and we know how they operate,” Fox said. “My worry always is that, if a furnace breaks in one of the rental houses, or if a roof develops a leak, they won’t have the cash left over to deal with it.”
Dave Sheets, owner of 115 rental homes in Lansing, doesn’t wait until municipal taxes are shifted over to the county to pay, but he often faces a 3% late fee from the city of Lansing. He echoed Schertzing’s theory that owners are in a constant battle with the margins as they await payments from tenants.
“I do pay them late, especially for the summer period. But they’re always done by November before the new taxes come out,” Sheets said. “I have some revenue coming in from the houses, so I just pay the extra 3% and move on. I’ve done that for years, to be honest.”
Other entries on this year’s list don’t have the same flexibility. At the top of the list, Robinson Memorial Church of God in Christ owes $111,679.96 on one vacant plot of land in Perry Robinson Circle, just south of Jolly Road. The church acquired it in 1999 under the leadership of its late pastor, William Lee, who wanted to build a new facility there.
The Lansing City Council granted the site tax-exempt status from 2014 through 2019, but it revoked that determination in 2020, paving the way for the totals to continue to accumulate.
Pastor Michael West said the land “has been an albatross” since he took over the 50-member congregation in 2021. He said the parcel should remain tax exempt because it’s used to host church activities. The church had an interested buyer last year, but the deal fell through.
“The fight isn’t over yet, but they have the upper hand on us,” he said. “I believe the lord is going to work it out for us.”
Schertzing, who dealt with a similar situation involving the Tabernacle of David in 2016, said this may be a case where “the property tax foreclosure process can really be your friend.”
“The church wants that property to be valuable and ripe for redevelopment. But if it’s taxable, the taxes are obviously also high. They can get rid of that liability if they just let it go through foreclosure,” Schertzing said.
On the other hand, Schertzing also said “the vacant property valuation process is problematic.” While the land may theoretically be worth tens of thousands of dollars, it’s equally likely that “nobody comes along and offers $10,000 for it.” In other words, the church is in a bit of a pickle.
Of the top 10, Fox said he’s most concerned about ninth-place entry Sharon Boonyasith, who owes $46,280 on her single-family home at 229 S. Detroit St. in Lansing Township. Fox attributes $31,543 of that to a special assessment made by Lansing Township leadership “for a roof replacement and other repairs.” The home itself is assessed at a value of $47,600.
Boonyasith is precisely the type of owner Fox said his office tries to prioritize when it comes time to try and help the county’s most vulnerable owners stay in their homes. In her case, however, it could be too late.
Going forward, Fox hopes his office can prevent similar situations from escalating to that point.
“We concentrate our efforts on the people who aren’t on the list. Those are the individual homeowners who are making an effort, who need assistance and financial counseling. That’s where we’re spending our time,” he said.
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