Investor · Harrison Township, MI · Member since 2015 · 131 posts · 45 votes
Hello all,
To start, I live in Michigan where your property is forfeited to the county after 2 years of delinquency. I've been analyzing some tax delinquency lists and I've found several properties that have delinquencies longer than two years with the owner still listed as the owner.
My question is, would the city assessor's online database not change the owner of the property even if it is forfeited, or is it more likely the person still owns the property for some reason?
Investor · Detroit, MI · Member since 2014 · 755 posts · 462 votes
10y
"Forfeited" to the county means absolutely nothing in Michigan.
Even after the "Foreclosure" the counties are still hoping the owner will come in and work out a payment plan.
I've seen properties that said "forfeited" four years in a row and the county never did the "foreclosure" even though nothing was paid on any of the "forfeiture" years.
In most cities the record will not change until the new owner files the PTA.
Investor · Detroit, MI · Member since 2014 · 755 posts · 462 votes
10y
"Forfeited" to the county means absolutely nothing in Michigan.
Even after the "Foreclosure" the counties are still hoping the owner will come in and work out a payment plan.
I've seen properties that said "forfeited" four years in a row and the county never did the "foreclosure" even though nothing was paid on any of the "forfeiture" years.
In most cities the record will not change until the new owner files the PTA.
Investor · Detroit, MI · Member since 2014 · 755 posts · 462 votes
10y
In basic terms:
(there are exceptions)
A "delivered" deed changes the actual ownership of the property.
Above I stated:
"In most cities the record will not change until the new owner files the PTA."
Filing the Property Transfer Affidavit is a (required) formality that may or may not get done that changes the record of the assessor. Most will not pick up the "recorded deeds" and none will pick up a "non recorded deed" or the various other ways the owner may have transferred his ownership interest to another.
The mailing may be worth a try, but there are better ways to invest in Michigan.
Specialist · Grand Rapids, MI · Member since 2012 · 582 posts · 353 votes
10y
@Richard Dunlop is right on - and I've had similar experiences in Michigan.
- Forfeiture basically means nothing in Michigan. It's a stronger way of saying "You're REALLY delinquent on your taxes now!" but it doesn't actually have any consequence other than tacking on extra fees to the property tax bill. The property is still fully redeemable if the owner pays off their property taxes before the ACTUAL foreclosure deadline.
- The Property Transfer Affidavit is a key document that notifies the city/township of the change in ownership. Sometimes this happens when the deed is recorded, but the transfer affidavit is the correct way to ensure it gets done (and you're technically required to do it within 45 days of the transfer).
In my opinion, it could definitely be worthwhile to send direct mail to folks who are that far behind on their taxes. I've done it many times and found there to be some extremely good deals in this range. Granted, their tax balances are usually getting pretty high at this point - so that extra cost is another issue to consider.
I would just make sure they haven't officially gone past the "point of no return" (two full years of delinquent taxes, not including the current year). Even if the county has dropped the ball and failed to foreclose on the properties that have gone past this time frame, I wouldn't count on them to not do their job right. Just stick in the range where you know they'll still be redeemable, and you should be okay.