Former Leland House Tenants Wait to Collect Their Belongings

February 18, 2026

Detroit City Council members harshly criticized city officials on Tuesday over the handling of the Leland House apartment building evacuation, where predominantly low-income senior residents were forced out in December due to safety concerns and remain unable to retrieve their belongings. The historic downtown building has been inaccessible because power must be restored before anyone can safely enter, while city officials defended their actions by citing years of attempting to force the building's owners into compliance with safety codes. Council members, particularly District 5's Renata Miller, argued the city failed to act proactively before the emergency situation developed and expressed frustration with inadequate oversight of landlords citywide.

Who is affected

More than 40 former tenants of Leland House (predominantly low-income seniors) who were displaced in December
31 identified former tenants without their belongings
11 remaining former tenants who have not given the city permission to retrieve their items
Katherine Guyton, a former tenant who lost her part-time job at the Leland and her address needed for employment
Former tenants missing documents needed for housing or employment applications
The owners of Leland House
Detroit City Council members and city departments (law and building department/BSEED)

What action is being taken

The city is attempting to fix the building's transformer and restore power to allow safe entry
The city is trying to relocate tenants into permanent housing
The city is attempting to force Leland House owners to bring the building into compliance or sell it
The city has been packing and delivering belongings to public storage for the 20 tenants who gave permission
The city is searching for the remaining 11 former tenants to obtain permission to retrieve their belongings
City officials are addressing concerns before council members

Why it matters

This situation highlights systemic failures in municipal building oversight and tenant protection, particularly for vulnerable populations like low-income seniors. The inability of displaced residents to access essential documents and belongings creates cascading hardships, preventing them from securing new housing and employment. The case exemplifies broader concerns about inadequate enforcement against non-compliant landlords in Detroit, where Council Member Miller noted 70,000 landlords are not meeting code requirements. The emergency evacuation and ongoing inability to resolve the situation demonstrates the human cost of reactive rather than proactive building safety enforcement.

What's next

Next court hearing scheduled for February 24, where the city hopes to obtain court permission for tenant relocations and property retrieval
Current owners want permission to sell the property (to be addressed at the February 24 hearing)
City officials will attempt to arrange a way for tenants or tenant representatives to supervise the packing of their belongings with fire marshal cooperation
The transformer must be fixed and power restored before the building can be safely re-entered

Read full article from source: Michigan Chronicle