Michigan Tax Sale Surpluses Must Be Paid Per Property, Not Net

A former property owner is owed about $2,000 in surplus proceeds from tax foreclosure auctions of 20 properties, even though most of those property sales didn’t produce surpluses, a Michigan appeals court held.

The Chippewa County Treasurer argued the property sales produced an aggregate net loss for the county because most of those properties’ tax debts weren’t fully recovered, or the county broke even, meaning that property owner David Chaveriat getting paid would amount to an unjust enrichment.

• The Michigan Court of Appeals disagreed, holding that state law required a foreclosing governmental unit, or FGU, to determine surplus disbursement “on ...