Delinquent Property Taxes in Michigan: Timeline and Redemption

If you don’t pay your property taxes in Michigan, you enter a roughly three-year process that starts with fees and interest piling on and ends with the county taking your property and selling it at auction. Delinquent property taxes in Michigan are governed by the General Property Tax Act, and the deadlines built into that law are strict. The good news is that you can stop the process at almost any point before the final judgment by paying what’s owed, entering a payment plan, or qualifying for a hardship program. The bad news is that once March 31 of the third year passes, there is no way to get the property back.

When Your Taxes Become Delinquent

Property taxes levied in one year become delinquent on March 1 of the following year if they haven’t been paid.¹ On that date, collection shifts from your local township or city treasurer to the county treasurer. If March 1 lands on a weekend or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.

That handoff matters. A different fee structure kicks in once the county takes over, and the timeline toward forfeiture and foreclosure begins running.

What You’ll Owe: Fees, Interest, and Penalties

Michigan stacks several charges on unpaid taxes, and each stage adds more:

A 3% late penalty if you pay after February 14 but before March 1, added by your local government.²
A 4% county property tax administration fee once taxes are returned as delinquent on March 1 (minimum $1.00).¹
Interest at 1% per month, noncompounded, from the date the taxes originally became delinquent.¹
A flat $175 forfeiture fee per parcel once the property is forfeited on March 1 of the second year.³
An additional 0.5% per month in noncompounded interest after forfeiture, on top of the existing 1% monthly rate.⁴

Recording fees and service-of-process fees get added during the foreclosure phase. Every month you wait costs more, and the charges don’t pause.

The Three-Year Timeline to Losing Your Property

Michigan’s delinquent tax process follows a predictable arc. Where you stand on this timeline determines what remedies you still have.

Year One: Delinquency

Taxes assessed in, say, 2024 that go unpaid are returned as delinquent to the county treasurer on March 1, 2025. The county treasurer sends a statement to your last known address notifying you.² At this stage you owe the original tax plus the 4% administration fee and 1% monthly interest.

Year Two: Forfeiture

If taxes stay unpaid through a second March 1, the property is forfeited to the county treasurer.¹ The county records a certificate of forfeiture with the register of deeds within 45 days and adds the $175 fee.³

Forfeiture is not the same as losing the property. You still own it and can still redeem. But the process has moved to a more serious phase. Starting May 1, the foreclosing governmental unit runs a title search and visits the property to see whether it’s occupied.⁵ By June 15, it files a single petition with the circuit court listing all forfeited properties that haven’t been redeemed.⁶

Year Three: Foreclosure Judgment

The circuit court holds a foreclosure hearing. For uncontested cases, judgment is entered no later than March 30 and takes effect on March 31. For contested cases, the court issues its judgment within 10 days after the hearing ends.⁷ Once the judgment takes effect, absolute title vests in the foreclosing governmental unit with no further right of redemption. That deadline is absolute.

How To Stop the Process by Redeeming

You can redeem your property any time before the foreclosure judgment takes effect on March 31 of the third year.⁷ Redemption means paying the full amount owed: delinquent taxes, interest, penalties, the 4% administration fee, the $175 forfeiture fee, the additional post-forfeiture interest, and any recording or service-of-process fees.⁴

If you redeem after the foreclosure petition is filed, the foreclosing governmental unit will ask the court to remove your property from it.⁶

If You Can’t Pay in Full: Payment Plans and Hardship Options

Several programs may help if you can’t pay the whole balance at once.

Installment Payment Plans

The foreclosing governmental unit can set up a delinquent property tax installment plan for financially distressed owners. Entering a plan and making the required initial payment can get your property removed from the foreclosure petition.⁸ Complete the plan and the additional post-forfeiture interest is waived. Fail to complete it and the interest is reinstated and your property returns to the next foreclosure petition.

Tax Foreclosure Avoidance Agreements

County treasurers can enter into tax foreclosure avoidance agreements lasting up to five years with owners of a principal residence who are financially distressed. You make an initial payment in an amount the county treasurer determines, and while the agreement is active your property must be withheld from the foreclosure petition.⁸ The program is currently authorized through June 30, 2026, so its future availability depends on legislative action.

Hardship Withholding

Even without a formal plan, the foreclosing governmental unit can withhold property from the foreclosure petition if you’re experiencing substantial financial hardship. Each unit must adopt a written policy defining what counts as hardship, tied to federal poverty income standards, and make it public.⁶ You must hold title. Ask your county treasurer’s office for the policy and application. This option is easy to overlook.

At the foreclosure hearing itself, the court also has discretion to withhold the property for a year or extend redemption if it finds the owner is a minor heir, is legally incompetent, lacks means of support, or is experiencing substantial financial hardship.⁶ You have to show up and present evidence; the court will not grant relief on its own.

Notice You Should Receive Before Foreclosure

At least 30 days before the show cause hearing, the foreclosing governmental unit must send notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to everyone with an interest in the forfeited property.⁹ The notice covers both the show cause hearing and the foreclosure hearing. If the unit can’t find your address in standard records, it must search probate court records, the qualified voter file, and business entity filings.

A personal visit to the property is also required.⁵ If the property appears occupied, the visitor must attempt to personally serve the occupant with notice of the hearings and verbally explain that the property will be foreclosed unless the delinquent amounts are paid.⁹

A procedural notice failure does not automatically void a foreclosure. The foreclosure stands as long as you received the minimum due process required under the Michigan and U.S. Constitutions. An owner whose interest was extinguished despite inadequate notice cannot get the property back from a later buyer but may file a claim for monetary damages in the Court of Claims.

Contesting the Foreclosure at the Hearing

If you want to fight the foreclosure, you must file written objections with the circuit court clerk and serve them on the foreclosing governmental unit before the hearing. The grounds are narrow. You can challenge the petition on grounds including:

No law authorized the tax.
The body that levied the tax lacked jurisdiction.
The property was exempt from the tax in question.
The tax was already paid within the time allowed by law.
The assessment was fraudulent.
The property description was so vague or incorrect that the forfeiture was void.

Claiming Surplus Proceeds if Your Property Was Sold

For years, Michigan counties kept the entire sale price when a tax-foreclosed property sold at auction, even if the sale brought in far more than what was owed. The Michigan Supreme Court ended that practice in 2020 in Rafaeli, LLC v. Oakland County, ruling that retaining surplus proceeds amounted to an unconstitutional taking without just compensation.¹⁰

If your property was foreclosed and sold for more than the total delinquent amount, you may be entitled to the difference. To preserve your claim, you must file Form 5743 (Notice of Intention to Claim Interest in Foreclosure Sales Proceeds) with the foreclosing governmental unit by July 1 following the effective date of the foreclosure.¹¹ Miss that deadline and you forfeit the right to any surplus. This is the protection former owners are most likely to miss.

Preventing Future Delinquency

Two tools can help keep you out of delinquency in the first place.

Poverty Exemption

The poverty exemption can reduce your property’s taxable value by 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100%, and it applies only to your principal residence. Eligibility is determined by your local board of review based on income and asset guidelines set by the local assessing unit. Those guidelines must be publicly available, and if the unit has a website, both the guidelines and the application form must be posted there.¹² You apply through the board of review during its regular meeting period. If you’re already delinquent, the exemption doesn’t erase past-due amounts, but it can lower what you owe going forward and make a payment plan more workable.

Challenging Your Assessment

If you think your property was assessed too high, protest to your local board of review, which meets annually in March. For residential property, that protest is a prerequisite to appealing to the Michigan Tax Tribunal.¹³ Bring evidence of comparable sales, errors in the property description, or other facts suggesting the assessed value exceeds 50% of true cash value.

If the board doesn’t resolve the dispute, you can appeal to the Michigan Tax Tribunal. Owners of commercial, industrial, and developmental property can bypass the board of review and file directly. Petitions must be filed by May 31 of the tax year involved.¹³ If you paid the disputed tax while the case is pending, you can amend your petition to seek a refund.

1
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.78a – The General Property Tax Act (Excerpt)
2
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.44 – The General Property Tax Act (Excerpt)
3
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.78g – The General Property Tax Act (Excerpt)
4
State of Michigan. Real Property Tax Foreclosure Timeline
5
State of Michigan. Foreclosure Process Timelines
6
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.78h – The General Property Tax Act (Excerpt)
7
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.78k – The General Property Tax Act (Excerpt)
8
Michigan Legislature. Public Act 33 of 2020
9
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.78i – The General Property Tax Act (Excerpt)
10
Justia Law. Rafaeli LLC v Oakland County
11
State of Michigan. Taxpayer Resources – Property Tax Forfeiture and Foreclosure
12
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.7u – The General Property Tax Act (Excerpt)
13
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 205.735a – Tax Tribunal Act (Excerpt)