There should never be homeless owners of a corporation that owns empty homes. The city is a corporation and the citizens are the owners.
The fourth sentence in the Detroit city charter Bill of Rights reads: "The people have a right to expect city government to provide for its residents, decent housing;". The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing.."
Law
In 1992 the United States government ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The ratification made the ICCPR the "supreme law of the land" under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which gives acceded treaties the status of federal law. Article 1 of the ICCPR states: "All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development."
That may not be a big deal to the majority white population of the country who are already enjoying their self-determination, but is a major break for Afrodescendants who have never exercised the right. It gives Afrodescendants the right to take ownership along with political control over any area they are a majority in and change the political system and policies. The policy concerned here is free housing. Paying for housing is suspended and ownership is granted to residents as well as empty properties.
