Quick answer: Yes, you can sell a house in Detroit with open blight tickets. Nothing in Michigan law stops a deed from being recorded. What stops deals is what those tickets turn into: default judgments, collection actions, and liens recorded against the property that a title company will find days before closing. As of July 2026, 73,920 Detroit parcels carry unpaid blight-ticket debt, and every one of them has a harder closing ahead of it than its owner probably expects.
This guide walks through exactly how a blight ticket becomes a title problem, what actually blocks a sale (and what doesn't), and the specific steps, with deadlines and phone numbers, to clear your record before you list.
How a $200 ticket becomes a title problem
Detroit blight enforcement runs on a conveyor belt, and each stage makes the problem more expensive and harder to unwind:
- The ticket. A Blight Violation Notice (BVN) is issued by BSEED, the police department, or general services inspectors. The hearing date and time are printed on the ticket itself. Detroit has issued 27,120 blight tickets in 2026 so far, carrying about $6.9 million in fines, roughly 2,400 tickets a month.
- The hearing. Tickets are heard at the Department of Appeals and Hearings (DAH) in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, Suite 1004. Pay before the hearing date and the fine drops 10%. Pay after, and it rises 10%, plus a $30 administrative fee per ticket.
- The default judgment. Skip the hearing and DAH enters a Decision and Order of Default. This is where most sellers' problems were born years earlier: a ticket mailed to an old address, defaulted quietly, and left to grow.
- Collections and liens. An unpaid DAH judgment is a civil judgment enforceable like any court judgment: wage garnishment, bank account attachment, and, under MCL 117.4r, the City may record the judgment as a lien against the property with the Wayne County Register of Deeds.
Once that lien is recorded, it runs with the land. That's the version of the problem a title company finds.
What actually blocks a Detroit home sale, and what doesn't
There's a lot of folklore about blight tickets and title transfer. Here's the accurate version, which matters whether you're the seller or the buyer:
Blight tickets do NOT stop a deed from recording. You can legally transfer a Detroit property with open tickets or even unpaid judgments. The Register of Deeds does not check your DAH balance.
Blight judgments do NOT go on the tax roll and do NOT trigger tax foreclosure. Only unpaid property taxes lead to Wayne County forfeiture and foreclosure (a separate crisis: 12,694 Detroit parcels are in active tax forfeiture right now). A blight judgment is a court debt, not a tax.
What blocks deals is the title work. Nearly every financed purchase, and any careful cash purchase, includes a title search and often a municipal lien search. When a recorded blight judgment lien surfaces, the title company will require it to be paid off or escrowed from the seller's proceeds before insuring the title. Local news has covered exactly this scenario: a Detroit house sale put on hold when unpaid blight tickets surfaced during closing.
Unrecorded judgments still bite. Even before a lien is recorded, unpaid judgments show in the city's public records. Buyers' agents and investors check them, and Detroit's own Blight Clearance rules block anyone in default to the City from pulling BSEED permits, obtaining a Certificate of Compliance, buying at Wayne County or Land Bank auctions, or receiving city contracts and abatements. An investor-buyer who plans to renovate will discover this in diligence, and reprice accordingly.
The seller's other two title killers travel with blight. The same neglected properties tend to carry the trio: blight judgments, water debt (6,700 Detroit parcels sit at or past DWSD's $1,000 lien line), and delinquent taxes. A closing that clears one and misses the others still falls apart.
The 2026 enforcement picture
Enforcement is not slowing down. Citywide, Detroit has issued 892,927 blight tickets totaling $284.7 million in assessed fines since record-keeping began. Live counts are on our Detroit blight ticket statistics page, which refreshes from city data several times a day.
The most-cited codes in 2026 are exactly the ones that surface during sales:
| Code | What it covers | 2026 tickets |
|---|---|---|
| 8-15-35 | No Certificate of Compliance (rental) | 4,961 |
| 8-15-45 | Unregistered vacant building | 2,083 |
| 8-15-81(a) | Unregistered rental property | 2,069 |
| 8-15-104 | Excessive weeds or plant growth | 1,828 |
Each code links to its resolution guide: the fine schedule, the evidence the city expects, and the dismissal approach that fits.
Note what leads the list: paperwork violations. If you've been renting out the house you're about to sell without a current Certificate of Compliance or rental registration, you are statistically the city's most common target, and those tickets keep coming while the house sits on the market.
Before you list: a five-step clearing plan
Step 1: Pull your property's full record. Don't rely on memory or old mail; tickets often default because notices went to a previous address. You can check any Detroit address free: open violations, balances, and deadlines in plain English, before you spend anything.
Step 2: Check the default-judgment escape hatch. If a judgment was entered without you ever appearing, DAH accepts a Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment within 21 days of the default order. It requires written good cause and a meritorious defense, a bond equal to the judgment, and a $20 motion fee, and it's unavailable if the debt has gone to collections or you've paid any portion. Past 21 days with improper service? Contact DAH; late motions are sometimes entertained. Our violation code library has the step-by-step for each code.
Step 3: Pay smart, not just fast. Tickets not yet heard get a 10% discount if paid before the hearing date. Judgments already in collections must be paid through the City's vendor at (844) 610-4059; paying City channels directly won't clear a collections account. Current-status payments go through the DAH portal, DivDat kiosks (the only cash option), by phone at (313) 224-0098, or in person at 2 Woodward Ave, Suite 1004.
Step 4: Get Blight Clearance if your buyer needs permits. After paying, sellers whose buyers plan renovations (or sellers who own other Detroit property) should request Blight Clearance by emailing the application to BLIGHTCLEARANCE@DETROITMI.GOV. Processing generally takes about three business days, and a denial comes with a Blight Report listing every outstanding item, effectively a free audit of everything the city holds against you and your other properties.
Step 5: Bring proof to closing. Keep payment confirmations and any lien discharges. If the City recorded a judgment lien, confirm a discharge is recorded with the Wayne County Register of Deeds; title companies insure what the record shows, not what you paid.
If you're the buyer: check before you offer
Two rules protect Detroit buyers:
The previous owner's tickets are not your tickets. DAH's own clearance rules say violations belong to whoever owned the property when they were issued. But recorded liens run with the land. Buy without checking and you inherit the payoff fight.
A title search alone isn't enough in Detroit. Standard title work catches recorded liens but can miss open tickets, expired Certificates of Compliance, water balances heading for the lien line, and pending hearings that become judgments after you close. Traditional municipal lien searches cover some of this, at $100 to $300 and 3 to 5 business days per address. A Detroit Compliance property report reads all 11 city records plus Wayne County recordings and returns a scored PDF instantly for $29; new accounts get their first five reports free, which covers a typical offer pipeline.
The math for landlords who keep the property
If you're clearing tickets on a property you intend to hold, remember the ticket that started this article: enforcement is continuous, and the only notice the city sends is a letter to the taxpayer address on file. A single defaulted ticket routinely hardens into a $1,500+ judgment. Portfolio monitoring rescans every watched address against every city record daily and texts you the day something new lands, from $29 a month, with full reports included on every watched property.
FAQs
Can I sell my house in Detroit with unpaid blight tickets?
Yes. Michigan law doesn't prevent transferring a deed with open blight tickets or judgments. In practice, recorded judgment liens must be paid or escrowed at closing for the buyer to get clean title insurance, and unresolved tickets typically become a price negotiation.
Do Detroit blight tickets become liens on the property?
They can. Under MCL 117.4r, the City may record an unpaid blight judgment as a lien with the Register of Deeds. It's not automatic, but once recorded, the lien attaches to the property and follows it through a sale.
Can Detroit foreclose on my house over blight tickets?
No. Blight judgments do not transfer to the tax roll and do not trigger tax foreclosure. Foreclosure risk comes from unpaid property taxes (via the Wayne County Treasurer), a separate debt worth checking at the same time.
Do blight tickets transfer to the new owner?
The violations and personal judgments stay with the owner who was cited. Recorded liens, however, stay with the property. Buyers should verify both before closing.
How do I look up blight tickets on a Detroit property?
Use the free Detroit property scan for any address; it shows open blight tickets, balances, and deadlines with no signup. For closings and lenders, a full written compliance report covering all 11 city databases plus Wayne County records is $29.
How much does it cost to clear a blight ticket before selling?
Fines run from $50 for a first weeds offense to $10,000 for the most serious violations, plus a $30 administrative fee per ticket, minus 10% if paid before the hearing. Judgments in collections may carry added costs and must be paid through the collections vendor at (844) 610-4059.
Sources: City of Detroit Department of Appeals and Hearings rules and fee schedules, DAH Blight Clearance process documents, MCL 117.4r, and the City of Detroit Open Data Portal. Enforcement figures as of July 10, 2026; current numbers on the live statistics page.