Tax Foreclosed Home Owners Denied Surplus by Michigan Justices

A group of former property owners aren’t entitled to the equity in their homes that exceed what they owed in taxes because a 2020 amendment to legislation granting access to surplus equity doesn’t apply retroactively, the Michigan Supreme Court held Wednesday.

Michigan law recognizes a former owner’s right to the surplus equity in homes that were sold without a public auction for more than the taxes owed but that law only applies prospectively, Justice Richard Bernstein wrote for the majority. The foreclosures commenced before the property tax law was amended and before the state high court held that the government ...