47% of property owners in Detroit didn't pay their property tax for 2011. They did, in fact, overwhelm the system and tens of thousands of properties which were supposed to have been seized were not. And a year later Detroit filed for bankruptcy.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130221/METRO01/302210375
Actually it was a game for speculators. They purposely didn't pay property taxes, and then scooped up the properties again at the next auction. It was cheaper than paying the taxes. This went on for years and years. Someone was getting a kickback, I assume.