Macomb County Tax Foreclosure Auction: Bidding, Rounds, and Costs

The Macomb County tax foreclosure auction is an online sale held by the County Treasurer between the third Tuesday in July and the first Tuesday in November each year, where properties taken through Michigan’s tax foreclosure process are sold to the public.¹ The county typically runs two rounds: a minimum-bid sale that covers the delinquent taxes and costs, and a no-minimum-bid sale for anything left over.² The prices can be low. The catch is that the discount reflects real risks around title, condition, and occupants, and the county tells you almost nothing about any of them.

Who Can Bid and How to Register

Michigan law bars two groups of people from buying at these sales. Under MCL 211.78m, every winning bidder must sign a sworn affidavit confirming that they do not directly or indirectly hold more than a minimal interest in any property with delinquent taxes in the same county, and that they owe no unpaid civil fines for blight-related ordinance violations in the community where the property sits.³ Failing to file the affidavit by the payment deadline cancels the sale. Filing a false one is a criminal offense and permanently bars you from any future auction under the statute.

For the 2025 cycle, Macomb County ran its auctions on zeusauction.com. Registration takes two steps: create an account on the platform, then register specifically for the Macomb County sale. You’ll submit a W-9 and upload a signed copy of the official auction rules.² Registration closes several days before bidding opens, so check the Treasurer’s auction page well ahead of the sale date. The platform and procedures can change from year to year.

The Two Auction Rounds

The first round is a minimum-bid sale. Bidding starts at an amount set by the Treasurer that recovers the delinquent taxes, interest, penalties, fees, and administrative costs.³ Anything that doesn’t sell rolls into a no-minimum-bid round, where opening bids can drop to a few hundred dollars.²

Bidding runs in real time online. Most platforms let you set a maximum bid so the system raises your offer automatically by the smallest increment needed to stay on top. Even so, watch the closing minutes. Competitive parcels attract a burst of late bids that can extend the closing window.

Payment Rules and What Happens If You Back Out

Winning bidders in 2025 had to pay in full by 4:00 PM the day after the auction. Accepted payment methods were cash, cashier’s check, certified check, or wire transfer.² That deadline is strict. A bidder who doesn’t close is banned from all future Macomb County tax-reverted auctions and charged a $2,500-per-parcel fee, with potential attorney’s fees on top.

Once payment clears, the Treasurer prepares a quit claim deed and forwards it to the Macomb County Register of Deeds for recording at $30 per document.⁴ A quit claim deed transfers whatever interest the county acquired through foreclosure. It doesn’t guarantee that interest is clean. You should generally expect the recorded deed by mail within several weeks.

What the Foreclosure Judgment Wipes Out and What Survives

The judgment behind these sales is unusually powerful. Under MCL 211.78k, the circuit court’s foreclosure order extinguishes all prior liens, including mortgages, judgment liens, and past-due special assessments, along with recorded and unrecorded interests.⁵ That’s cleaner than most foreclosure types.

The statute keeps five categories of interest attached to the property after sale:

Future special assessment installments that haven’t yet come due
Environmental liens filed under Michigan’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act
Visible or recorded easements and rights-of-way
Private deed restrictions, such as subdivision covenants
Oil, gas, and other mineral interests held by someone other than the surface owner

Environmental liens are the one to watch. A contaminated parcel can carry cleanup obligations that dwarf the purchase price, and the county provides no disclosures about soil contamination, lead-based paint, or hazardous materials.

Researching a Property Before You Bid

The Treasurer’s office publishes the property list on its auction and claims page once the inventory is finalized. Each entry shows the parcel identification number, legal description, and minimum bid.¹ The sale operates under caveat emptor. The county makes no promises about the physical condition of any structure, the accuracy of boundary lines, or whether the building is habitable.

An independent title search is worth the money even with the foreclosure judgment behind you. Check for surviving environmental liens, review easements that could restrict building, and confirm the zoning allows what you plan to do. Drive by the property. Tax-foreclosed houses sometimes have severe damage, stripped mechanicals, or people still living inside. None of that shows up in the listing.

Costs That Show Up After the Sale

The winning bid is rarely the total investment. Several costs land on the new owner within weeks or months of closing.

Current Year Property Taxes

Winning the auction doesn’t give you a tax holiday. As the new owner, you’re responsible for the current year’s property taxes, and the bill follows the property. Missing it puts you on the same forfeiture track the previous owner fell into. Contact the Macomb County Treasurer’s office after purchase to confirm which installments you owe and when.

Quiet Title Action

Here’s where most first-time buyers get surprised. Even though the foreclosure judgment eliminates nearly all prior interests, title insurance companies typically refuse to issue a policy on a tax-deed property until a court has entered a quiet title judgment confirming your ownership. Without title insurance, selling the property or getting a mortgage on it becomes very difficult, because future buyers and lenders will demand it.

A quiet title action is a lawsuit filed in circuit court asking the judge to declare your title free and clear. The court notifies anyone who might have had an interest, and if no one contests, the judge enters an order in your favor. Legal fees generally start around $2,000 and rise if the action is contested. Expect the process to take several months. Michigan’s Land Bank Fast Track Act (MCL 124.759) offers an expedited version of this process, but it’s only available to land bank authorities, not to individual auction buyers.⁶ If you bought from a land bank rather than directly at the county auction, ask whether that expedited process was completed before closing.

Evicting Occupants

Some auction properties still have people living in them, whether the former owner, a tenant, or an unauthorized occupant. Buying the property doesn’t let you change the locks and move in. Michigan requires the formal eviction process, typically summary proceedings filed in district court under MCL 600.5714. You’ll need proper notice and a court order before removing anyone.

Filing and service costs for a residential eviction in Michigan generally run between $55 and $215, before attorney fees. From filing to court order commonly takes several weeks. If the property looks occupied when you check it before the auction, build that delay and expense into your numbers.

Surplus Proceeds for the Former Owner

If you’re the former owner or a lienholder rather than a bidder, and the property sold for more than the county was owed, you may be able to claim the difference. Michigan law sets two firm deadlines under MCL 211.78t, and missing either forfeits the right.⁷ A notice of intent (state Form 5743, notarized) must reach the foreclosing governmental unit by July 1 following the effective date of foreclosure, delivered by certified mail with return receipt or by personal service. A circuit court motion must then be filed between February 1 and May 15 of the year after the sale. For the 2025 foreclosure cycle, the Macomb County Treasurer lists a July 1, 2028 intent deadline and a May 15, 2029 motion deadline.⁸

Doing the Math Before You Bid

Real deals exist at these auctions. So do expensive mistakes. Before committing money to any parcel, add up the costs that won’t appear in the listing: a pre-auction title search, a post-purchase quiet title action, potential eviction filings, unpaid utility balances the municipality may pursue, the current year’s property taxes, and repairs to bring the property up to code. Add those to your winning bid and you’ll have a realistic figure for the investment. Bidders who do well at Macomb County’s auctions aren’t the ones who find the cheapest property. They’re the ones who estimate the full cost of ownership before they place a bid.

1
Macomb County, Michigan. Auction and Claims
2
Macomb County, Michigan. Macomb County Auction Rules 2025
3
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211-78m – The General Property Tax Act (Excerpt)
4
Macomb County, Michigan. Recording Fees
5
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211-78k – The General Property Tax Act (Excerpt)
6
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 124-759 – Land Bank Fast Track Act (Excerpt)
7
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211-78t – The General Property Tax Act (Excerpt)
8
Macomb County. Forfeiture/Foreclosure Timeline