Loopholes Abound As Section 8 Landlords Skip Paying County Millions In Taxes

DETROIT (WWJ) - Deadbeat landlords are costing millions of dollars for Wayne County, which houses the bankrupt city of Detroit.

Wayne County Treasurer Raymond Wojtowicz said the county is owed millions of dollars by landlords who haven't paid their taxes.

Wojtowicz is asking the federal housing commission to step in to help collect back taxes from landlords who are part of the Section 8 housing voucher program.

Chief Deputy Treasurer, Dave Szymanski, said the county is looking to close the loophole that make it difficult to go after Section 8 landlords.

"It is my understanding that if we have a receiver appointed they would be able to collect revenue from others but not from those people participating in Section 8, and it just doesn't seem right that federal money would be given to somebody to provide housing for somebody and that a person would be able to avoid paying their taxes and therefore leave our local governments in the lurch," said Szymanski.

"It would certainly represent millions of dollars in lost revenue, and the problem is our local governments are struggling right now to provide services for people; police and fire protection, trash collection, schools for our children - everything," he said. "To allow people to use properties to generate revenue and avoid paying their taxes is simply wrong."

Szymanski said the county is teaming up with city treasury departments to come up with ways to get Section 8 landlords to pay up.