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    • Ingham and Eaton counties are willing to compensate people who lost property through foreclosure
    Idaho

    Ingham and Eaton counties are willing to compensate people who lost property through foreclosure

    Madoc Meredith Posted on

    LANSING – A Michigan Supreme Court opinion released late last month said a 2020 decision was retroactive and that granting a claim to foreclosure proceeds based on tax debts owed by former property owners did not put Ingham and Eaton counties at a financial disadvantage.

    Officials in both counties said they had been preparing for years to pay out foreclosure profits to former owners in anticipation of the ruling. Treasurers in Ingham and Eaton counties held back the windfall revenue from the foreclosures, betting that it would likely go back to the former owners.

    “My best estimate is that we have enough money set aside to meet all of these demands,” said Ingham County Treasurer Alan Fox.

    The Supreme Court’s July 29 decision was expected because the court ruled in 2020 that it was unconstitutional for local governments to keep excess proceeds from foreclosures. The ruling came with guidelines that allow former property owners to claim foreclosure proceeds in excess of their debts.

    Last month’s ruling ruled on whether people who lost property to foreclosure before 2020 could receive the profit from the sale of the property.

    Both districts provide funds

    Eaton County Treasurer Bob Robinson said lawsuits related to the state Supreme Court ruling on gains from tax liens date back to 2017.

    “We only started foreclosing on our own properties in Eaton County in 2016, so when I saw that these lawsuits were a writing on the wall, I kept all of the auction surplus in a reserve,” he said. “We’re fortunate in Eaton County that we have a reserve that allows us to return all of these funds to those who lost their homes to tax foreclosure.”

    The county has set aside about $1.4 million in profits, Robinson said.

    Before the foreclosures were conducted, the state of Michigan handled those sales for the county, he said. The state still conducts foreclosures on properties in Clinton County.

    Ingham County has been conducting tax auctions since 2005, Fox said.

    “We have about $4 million set aside,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll need all of it, but like I said, there are still some unanswered questions.”

    It could take another year for people who were owed money before 2020 to receive it, Robinson said, because of several lawsuits filed by property owners. Appeals, including one filed recently after the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan approved a settlement in June regarding Wayside Church v. Van Buren County, a 2014 federal lawsuit involving three property owners who lost their property to tax liens, will likely delay those payments, he said.

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    Auctions upcoming

    Tax auctions are coming up in Ingham and Eaton counties.

    Ingham County’s first auction will take place at 10 a.m. on August 22 at the Lansing Center. A total of 43 properties are up for auction, Fox said. Of those, 17 are undeveloped lots and two dozen residential homes, he said.

    The number of properties auctioned off due to tax liens has declined in recent years, Fox said, with 61 properties up for auction in 2023 and 71 in 2022.

    Open days are planned for just over a dozen of these properties starting Monday.

    Here you will find the details as well as a list of all properties for sale.

    The Eaton County auction will be held at 5 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Eaton County Governmental Complex. A total of 23 lots are for sale, Robinson said.

    You can find the details of the auction here.

    Contact reporter Rachel Greco at [email protected]. Follow her on X @GrecoatLSJ .

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    Madoc Meredith
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