Bill Text: MI HB4431 | 2011-2012 | 96th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Property tax; delinquent taxes; notice of judgment foreclosing property; revise. Amends sec. 78k of 1893 PA 206 (MCL 211.78k).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 22-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-16 - Printed Bill Filed 03/16/2011 [HB4431 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2011-HB4431-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 4431
March 15, 2011, Introduced by Reps. Melton, Santana, Hobbs, Dillon, Brunner, Segal, Smiley, Haugh, Ananich, Lipton, Darany, Kandrevas, McCann, Slavens, Switalski, Geiss, Barnett, Bauer, Liss, Howze, Meadows and Jackson and referred to the Committee on Tax Policy.
A bill to amend 1893 PA 206, entitled
"The general property tax act,"
by amending section 78k (MCL 211.78k), as amended by 2006 PA 611.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 78k. (1) If a petition for foreclosure is filed under
section 78h, not later than the date of the hearing, the
foreclosing governmental unit shall file with the clerk of the
circuit court proof of service of the notice of the show cause
hearing under section 78j, proof of service of the notice of the
foreclosure hearing under this section, and proof of the personal
visit to the property and publication under section 78i.
(2) A person claiming an interest in a parcel of property set
forth in the petition for foreclosure may contest the validity or
correctness of the forfeited unpaid delinquent taxes, interest,
penalties, and fees for 1 or more of the following reasons:
(a) No law authorizes the tax.
(b) The person appointed to decide whether a tax shall be
levied under a law of this state acted without jurisdiction, or did
not impose the tax in question.
(c) The property was exempt from the tax in question, or the
tax was not legally levied.
(d) The tax has been paid within the time limited by law for
payment or redemption.
(e) The tax was assessed fraudulently.
(f) The description of the property used in the assessment was
so indefinite or erroneous that the forfeiture was void.
(3) A person claiming an interest in a parcel of property set
forth in the petition for foreclosure who desires to contest that
petition shall file written objections with the clerk of the
circuit court and serve those objections on the foreclosing
governmental unit prior to the date of the hearing required under
this section.
(4) If the court determines that the owner of property subject
to foreclosure is a minor heir, is incompetent, is without means of
support, or is undergoing a substantial financial hardship, the
court may withhold that property from foreclosure for 1 year or may
enter an order extending the redemption period as the court
determines to be equitable. If the court withholds property from
foreclosure under this subsection, a taxing unit's lien for taxes
due is not prejudiced and that property shall be included in the
immediately succeeding year's tax foreclosure proceeding.
(5) The circuit court shall enter final judgment on a petition
for foreclosure filed under section 78h at any time after the
hearing under this section but not later than the March 30
immediately succeeding the hearing with the judgment effective on
the March 31 immediately succeeding the hearing for uncontested
cases or 10 days after the conclusion of the hearing for contested
cases. All redemption rights to the property expire on the March 31
immediately succeeding the entry of a judgment foreclosing the
property under this section, or in a contested case 21 days after
the entry of a judgment foreclosing the property under this
section. The circuit court's judgment shall specify all of the
following:
(a) The legal description and, if known, the street address of
the property foreclosed and the forfeited unpaid delinquent taxes,
interest, penalties, and fees due on each parcel of property.
(b) That fee simple title to property foreclosed by the
judgment will vest absolutely in the foreclosing governmental unit,
except as otherwise provided in subdivisions (c) and (e), without
any further rights of redemption, if all forfeited delinquent
taxes, interest, penalties, and fees are not paid on or before the
March 31 immediately succeeding the entry of a judgment foreclosing
the property under this section, or in a contested case within 21
days of the entry of a judgment foreclosing the property under this
section.
(c) That all liens against the property, including any lien
for unpaid taxes or special assessments, except future installments
of special assessments and liens recorded by this state or the
foreclosing governmental unit pursuant to the natural resources and
environmental protection act, 1994 PA 451, MCL 324.101 to
324.90106, are extinguished, if all forfeited delinquent taxes,
interest, penalties, and fees are not paid on or before the March
31 immediately succeeding the entry of a judgment foreclosing the
property under this section, or in a contested case within 21 days
of the entry of a judgment foreclosing the property under this
section.
(d) That, except as otherwise provided in subdivisions (c) and
(e), the foreclosing governmental unit has good and marketable fee
simple title to the property, if all forfeited delinquent taxes,
interest, penalties, and fees are not paid on or before the March
31 immediately succeeding the entry of a judgment foreclosing the
property under this section, or in a contested case within 21 days
of the entry of a judgment foreclosing the property under this
section.
(e) That all existing recorded and unrecorded interests in
that property are extinguished, except a visible or recorded
easement or right-of-way, private deed restrictions, interests of a
lessee or an assignee of an interest of a lessee under a recorded
oil or gas lease, interests in oil or gas in that property that are
owned by a person other than the owner of the surface that have
been preserved as provided in section 1(3) of 1963 PA 42, MCL
554.291, or restrictions or other governmental interests imposed
pursuant to the natural resources and environmental protection act,
1994 PA 451, MCL 324.101 to 324.90106, if all forfeited delinquent
taxes, interest, penalties, and fees are not paid on or before the
March 31 immediately succeeding the entry of a judgment foreclosing
the property under this section, or in a contested case within 21
days of the entry of a judgment foreclosing the property under this
section.
(f) A finding that all persons entitled to notice and an
opportunity to be heard have been provided that notice and
opportunity. A person shall be deemed to have been provided notice
and an opportunity to be heard if the foreclosing governmental unit
followed the procedures for provision of notice by mail, for visits
to forfeited property, and for publication under section 78i, or if
1 or more of the following apply:
(i) The person had constructive notice of the hearing under
this section by acquiring an interest in the property after the
date the notice of forfeiture is recorded under section 78g.
(ii) The person appeared at the hearing under this section or
filed written objections with the clerk of the circuit court under
subsection (3) prior to the hearing.
(iii) Prior to the hearing under this section, the person had
actual notice of the hearing.
(g) A judgment entered under this section is a final order
with respect to the property affected by the judgment and except as
provided
in subsection (7) (8) shall not be modified, stayed, or
held invalid after the March 31 immediately succeeding the entry of
a judgment foreclosing the property under this section, or for
contested cases 21 days after the entry of a judgment foreclosing
the property under this section.
(6) The foreclosing governmental unit shall send a notice of
judgment by first-class mail to each person with a legal interest
in an improved property and to the occupant, if any, at the address
for the property listed in the tax rolls or ascertained during the
personal visit to the property under section 78i, if the address is
evident. The notice of judgment shall state the last date on which
the property may be redeemed, which date shall be March 31
immediately succeeding the entry of a judgment foreclosing the
property under this section or in a contested case within 21 days
of the entry of a judgment foreclosing the property under this
section.
(7) (6)
Except as otherwise provided in
subsection (5)(c) and
(e), fee simple title to property set forth in a petition for
foreclosure filed under section 78h on which forfeited delinquent
taxes, interest, penalties, and fees are not paid on or before the
March 31 immediately succeeding the entry of a judgment foreclosing
the property under this section, or in a contested case within 21
days of the entry of a judgment foreclosing the property under this
section, shall vest absolutely in the foreclosing governmental
unit, and the foreclosing governmental unit shall have absolute
title to the property, including all interests in oil or gas in
that property except the interests of a lessee or an assignee of an
interest of a lessee under an oil or gas lease in effect as to that
property or any part of that property if the lease was recorded in
the office of the register of deeds in the county in which the
property is located before the date of filing the petition for
foreclosure under section 78h, and interests preserved as provided
in section 1(3) of 1963 PA 42, MCL 554.291. The foreclosing
governmental unit's title is not subject to any recorded or
unrecorded lien and shall not be stayed or held invalid except as
provided
in subsection (7) (8) or (9) (10).
(8) (7)
The foreclosing governmental unit
or a person claiming
to have a property interest under section 78i in property
foreclosed under this section may appeal the circuit court's order
or the circuit court's judgment foreclosing property to the court
of appeals. An appeal under this subsection is limited to the
record of the proceedings in the circuit court under this section
and shall not be de novo. The circuit court's judgment foreclosing
property shall be stayed until the court of appeals has reversed,
modified, or affirmed that judgment. If an appeal under this
subsection stays the circuit court's judgment foreclosing property,
the circuit court's judgment is stayed only as to the property that
is the subject of that appeal and the circuit court's judgment
foreclosing other property that is not the subject of that appeal
is not stayed. To appeal the circuit court's judgment foreclosing
property, a person appealing the judgment shall pay to the county
treasurer the amount determined to be due to the county treasurer
under the judgment on or before the March 31 immediately succeeding
the entry of a judgment foreclosing the property under this
section, or in a contested case within 21 days of the entry of a
judgment foreclosing the property under this section, together with
a notice of appeal. If the circuit court's judgment foreclosing the
property is affirmed on appeal, the amount determined to be due
shall be refunded to the person who appealed the judgment. If the
circuit court's judgment foreclosing the property is reversed or
modified on appeal, the county treasurer shall refund the amount
determined to be due to the person who appealed the judgment, if
any, and retain the balance in accordance with the order of the
court of appeals.
(9) (8)
The foreclosing governmental unit
shall record a
notice of judgment for each parcel of foreclosed property in the
office of the register of deeds for the county in which the
foreclosed property is located in a form prescribed by the
department of treasury.
(10) (9)
After the entry of a judgment
foreclosing the
property under this section, if the property has not been
transferred under section 78m to a person other than the
foreclosing governmental unit, a foreclosing governmental unit may
cancel the foreclosure by recording with the register of deeds for
the county in which the property is located a certificate of error
in a form prescribed by the department of treasury, if the
foreclosing governmental unit discovers any of the following:
(a) The foreclosed property was not subject to taxation on the
date of the assessment of the unpaid taxes for which the property
was foreclosed.
(b) The description of the property used in the assessment of
the unpaid taxes for which the property was foreclosed was so
indefinite or erroneous that the forfeiture of the property was
void.
(c) The taxes for which the property was foreclosed had been
paid to the proper officer within the time provided under this act
for the payment of the taxes or the redemption of the property.
(d) A certificate, including a certificate issued under
section 135, or other written verification authorized by law was
issued by the proper officer within the time provided under this
act for the payment of the taxes for which the property was
foreclosed or for the redemption of the property.
(e) An owner of an interest in the property entitled to notice
under section 78i was not provided notice sufficient to satisfy the
minimum requirements of due process required under the state
constitution of 1963 and the constitution of the United States.
(f) A judgment of foreclosure was entered under this section
in violation of an order issued by a United States bankruptcy
court.
(11) (10)
A certificate of error submitted to
the county
register
of deeds for recording under subsection (9) (10) need
not
be notarized and may be authenticated by a digital signature of the
foreclosing governmental unit or by other electronic means.
