Jailed landlord David Kircher's Ypsilanti properties for sale on two separate auction blocks
Jailed landlord David Kircher's Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township properties will be for sale at two auctions in July.
Around 30 properties will be for sale as part of a bankruptcy auction held at Colliers’ Ann Arbor office, while another five will be sold in the Washtenaw County Treasurer’s Office upcoming tax foreclosure auction.
Kircher filed for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit in February and a judge approved a motion to appoint a trustee to oversee his assets.
He is serving a five-year term in state prison in Jackson for illegally diverting raw sewage into the Huron River via a public sewer from the Eastern Highlands apartment complex he owned in 2004.
A Kircher home in tax foreclosure at 422 North Hamilton Street in the City of Ypsilanti. It is part of the open house program.
Tom Perkins | For AnnArbor.com
According to court documents, Kircher owns 36 properties in Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township, which are valued at approximately $5.6 million.
All proceeds from the bankruptcy auction will go to pay back Kircher’s debts, while proceeds from the tax foreclosure auctions will pay down back taxes he owes.
According to court documents, Kircher holds $2.7 million in debt. The largest debt is to the State of Michigan, to which he owes $1.1 million, mostly stemming from a fine for dumping the raw sewage. He also owes $112,448 to DTE Energy and $80,000 to Ypsilanti Township for legal fees. His former attorney, George Ward, is owed $25,000 for his services.
Documents show Kircher is involved in numerous lawsuits, one of which involves a dispute over the $3.5 million Eastern Highlands complex on LeForge Road in Ypsilanti Township. That complex is not part of either auction.
Ann Arbor’s Colliers, which was appointed by the court to oversee the sale of the properties governed by bankruptcy court, was asking $947,000 for Kircher’s portfolio of homes it controls. The properties vary from single-family homes to lots to student housing near Eastern Michigan University. Many are condemned or in disrepair.
Colliers has taken offers for the properties and its court-appointed trustee has set a reserve price that bidders must meet. That reserve is kept secret, and bidders, who will gather at Collier's office on July 26, will be told if their bid exceeds the reserve and previous offers.
Colliers’ Brendan Cavender said his office is marketing the homes with the help of Keller-Williams, and the properties are available for viewing and inspection prior to the auction.
“We’ve been hearing from people who want to invest in EMU campus real estate who are looking for good investments. There are people looking to fix up single-family residences. We’ve had a multitude of people inquire about them," Cavender said. "Some people are looking to get rich quick by putting a little money in and flipping them.”
If the properties don’t sell, Colliers can continue to market them.
Among the Ypsilanti properties at the Colliers auction are: 118 Ballard Street, 424 Ballard, 125 College Place, 130 College Place, 107 E. Cross Street, 302 E. Cross, 5 Driscoll Court, 3 Driscoll Court, , 220 N. Lincoln Street, 707 Pearl Street, 414 Perrin Street, 50 S. Summit Street, 46 S. Summit, 116 N. Summit, 43 S. Summit, 49 S. Summit, 11 S. Summit, 413 Washtenaw Ave., 313 Washtenaw and 315 Washtenaw.
The Ypsilanti Township homes include: 850 Allen Ave., 1536 Foley Ave., 649 Oswego Ave., 661 Oswego and 1117 Holmes Road. The auction also includes two homes in Wyandotte and one in Whitmore Lake.
The homes that are headed to the tax foreclosure auction through the Washtenaw County Treasurer's Office include 1133 Buick, 1145, Buick, 1766 Eilene and 1144 Buick in Ypsilanti Township.
The property at 422 N. Hamilton in the City of Ypsilanti is also in tax foreclosure and will be available for viewing through the city and treasurer office’s open house program.
Comments
wait.think
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 1:36 p.m.
For those of you that consider jail-time for this man, or others like him, a "waste of taxpayers money", please keep in mind that Kircher is a thief - stealing from the taxpayers. And he has done so for years. He hasn't paid taxes on his properties (foreclosures.) Many of his properties are "condemmed or in disrepair" which affects property values (taxes) in the surrounding neighborhoods. He knowingly dumped RAW SEWAGE into a river - who is going to pay for cleanup? Ultimately, the taxpayers. When he doesn't pay his electric bill, someone still has to. So the prices we all get charged go up and we blame DTE... because they are huge and easy to identify. We, the local taxpayers, will never completely recover financially from the disaster called David Kircher, and others like him, but maybe his sentence will discourage others from following his way of "doing business." Ypsilanti struggles daily with its image and does not need slumlords who let their properties decay to the point of being condemmed and/or worthy of the description "blight." I hope people will step up to the challenge of taking over these properties and bring them back to life... and the tax roll.
Enso
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 12:26 p.m.
If anyone ever wonders why we need regulation in this economy, just remember this article.
newsboy
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 12:37 a.m.
Why aren't the Cities of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti in prison for dumping raw sewage down the river? Try swimming in the Huron just after it rains.
alterego
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 3:45 a.m.
Scoop your poop. We can effectively clean up after our four-legged family members. But it's rather difficult to clean up after the raccoons. How often do our sanitary sewers overflow? The sanitary sewers and storm sewers are two different sets of pipes.
Cash
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 10:27 p.m.
Cavender said. "Some people are looking to get rich quick by putting a little money in and flipping them." A little money? A LITTLE MONEY???? Wow, marketing the houses is right! Holy Toledo, this article should have included some pictures other than this one that looks decent. I'll bet the realtor took Tom to this one! One has weeks actually growing on what was once a front door......I can't see how some of these places can be rehabbed for any money. The value may be in the lot.
Tom Perkins
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 3:01 a.m.
Well, I hope you didn't bet too much on that one, Cash! I went to this house because it is the one Kircher home that was available for viewing through the city's foreclosure open house program. If you look at either of my two previous articles on Kircher you'll find pictures of homes in much worse shape. This home was not short on visible issues either, though maybe it's hard to tell because the picture is small.
Cash
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 10:28 p.m.
Sorry, that should not say "weeks" but WEEDS growing on what was once a front door. Sigh......still no ability to correct a post short of adding another, after HOW many years now?
xmo
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 9:34 p.m.
David Kircher is a good example of a Democrat! Does not pay his bills, believes that laws are made for other people and does not know how to run a business! Remember in 2006, He ran for mayor as a Democrat! "there will be three contested primary races for Ypsilanti City Council positions as well as a three-way race for Mayor.Colorful Ypsilanti celebrity David Kircher has filed to run against Mayor Pro-Tem Trudy Swanson in Ward 1"
Cash
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 10:22 p.m.
Oh xmo, and Gov "I"m in Buenos Aires not with my lover" Sanford was a good example of a Republican. So was "I'm just moving my foot" Sen Larry Craig. Both parties have people they'd rather not claim. Nothing new there....move on.
leaguebus
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 8:51 p.m.
What a waste of taxpayer money. BP fills the Gulf with oil through malfeasance and pays fines but no one went to jail. Kircher dumps sewage into the Huron, gets a large fine and jail. Make him sell his properties, put him on probation, fine him, but this guy is not enough threat to society for us to pay for him to occupy a jail cell. Reserve the cells for violent criminals.
Madeleine Borthwick
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 8:27 p.m.
hey leaguebus, maybe he should be sentenced to living in one of his own properties? ideally the skankiest?
Cash
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 10:24 p.m.
Excellent point, leaguebus. Prison is full of non-violent offenders. This state and this country need major sentencing reform.
genetracy
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 7:42 p.m.
Kircher a member of the 1%? Boy, he is a regular George Soros.
Fat Bill
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 6:24 p.m.
It will be great for Ypsilanti to get these properties paying taxes and increasing in value. I hope slumlords everywhere take notice of what happened to Kircher. I have clients in the rental business who take the time and spend the money to do it right, they have no problem making a profit.
Tom Todd
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 5:21 p.m.
how did someone from the 1% go to jail?
leaguebus
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 8:56 p.m.
He wasn't part of the 1%, that's why he got burned so bad. Now his properties will be bought up by the 1%Ers reality trusts and they will be where they belong, In the 15% tax bracket.
Duc d'Escargot
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 7:44 p.m.
Kircher has a long history of disputes with the city of Ypsilanti and possibly with the Township, too. This goes back farther than the unfortunate dumping of raw sewage from the apartment complex. In my opinion, if he had just maintained his properties and kept them up to code, he woudn't be in jail now and the properties wouldn't be going to auction.
ChrisW
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 5:42 p.m.
Obviously didn't pay off the right politicians.