Tax Sale Auctions Render Adequate Compensation, Say Justices (2)

Just compensation to a former homeowner after a tax sale is based on the auction price, not the property’s fair market value, the US Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

“Neither the Fifth nor the Eighth Amendment requires the government to compensate former owners based on the hypothetical fair market value of their property,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court. The justices affirmed the Sixth Circuit in that aspect, but remanded the issue for the lower court to consider whether Isabella County, Mich.'s, tax sale procedures were fairly conducted.

The case gave the court the opportunity to work out procedural kinks ...