Michigan’s List of Tax-Delinquent Properties for Sale

Michigan’s official lists of tax-delinquent properties for sale are published by each County Treasurer, and most counties feed their inventories into a single online auction platform at tax-sale.info, where you can filter by county, view parcel details, and bid. First-round county auctions for 2026 run from early August through early September, with a minimum-bid re-offer on September 25 and a no-reserve sealed-bid round on October 30.¹

Where the Lists Are Published

Start with the County Treasurer for the county you want to buy in. The Treasurer is the Foreclosing Governmental Unit that holds title after foreclosure and controls the auction inventory. Some counties post their lists directly on county websites. Many contract with tax-sale.info, which hosts online catalogs and bidding for dozens of Michigan counties and releases new county catalogs on a staggered schedule as each one becomes available.¹

The Michigan Department of Treasury runs separate auctions for state-owned parcels. Those are live, highest-verbal-bid sales with full payment due the same day and no buyer’s premium.²

The State Land Bank Authority, inside the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, holds its own portfolio of tax-foreclosed properties, but its purpose is community redevelopment rather than open-market resale.³ If you want to buy a specific parcel, the county auction is almost always the right channel.

The Two Auction Rounds

Michigan counties sell foreclosed parcels in two very different rounds, and knowing the difference changes how you bid.

In the first round, every parcel opens at a minimum bid set by statute. That minimum covers all unpaid taxes, interest, penalties, and the county’s foreclosure costs, including mailings, publication, legal work, and auction expenses. The county cannot sell below that floor in the first round.⁴

Parcels that don’t clear the first round can be offered later at a no-reserve auction, where the opening bid drops to a nominal amount. No-reserve sales use sealed bids rather than live bidding: you submit your best offer in advance and wait for results. Winners still owe current summer taxes on top of the bid.⁵ The deepest discounts are in the no-reserve round, but a parcel that survived two prior rounds without a buyer usually has problems that scared earlier bidders off.

Registering and the Required Affidavit

You can’t walk in and bid. Every Michigan tax foreclosure auction requires advance registration, and the center of that registration is a sworn affidavit. Before the county will issue you a deed, Michigan law requires you to certify two things under penalty of perjury:

You don’t directly or indirectly hold more than a minimal legal interest in any property with delinquent taxes in the same county.
You aren’t responsible for any unpaid civil fines for local ordinance violations in the jurisdiction where the property sits.

Miss the affidavit deadline and the county cancels the sale. File a false affidavit and you commit a criminal offense and are permanently barred from future sales.⁴

You’ll also need government-issued ID and your contact information. If you bid through an LLC or corporation, bring the entity’s tax ID and formation documents. Deposits vary. Berrien County, for example, places a $1,000 pre-authorized hold on a credit card and only collects it if you fail to pay on a winning bid.⁶ Registration windows close several days before the auction, so finish early. A technical problem on the last day can lock you out.

What You Actually Pay

The gavel price is not your total. Through tax-sale.info, which many Michigan counties use, winning bidders pay a 10% buyer’s premium on top of the winning bid, plus current-year summer taxes and a $30 deed recording fee.⁵ A $5,000 winning bid becomes $5,500 in bid plus premium before any taxes or recording charges are added. Department of Treasury auctions work differently and have no buyer’s premium, but demand full payment the day of sale.²

County payment timelines vary. Some want a deposit within 24 hours and the balance within a few business days; others want full payment immediately. Missing a payment deadline forfeits your deposit and can bar you from future sales. Have the funds ready before you bid.

What the Deed Gives You

Once payment clears, the county issues a quitclaim deed conveying whatever title it acquired through foreclosure.⁷ The statute requires the county to record the deed with the Register of Deeds, and recording typically takes several weeks depending on sale volume.⁴

The foreclosure judgment extinguishes most prior interests. Unpaid taxes, special assessments, old mortgages, judgment liens, and mechanics’ liens are generally gone. A few categories survive and routinely burn careless buyers:⁸

Visible or recorded easements and rights-of-way
Private deed restrictions
Oil and gas lease interests held by someone other than the surface owner
Future installments of special assessments
Environmental liens recorded under the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act

Surviving interests won’t appear in a basic record search. A title search and a close read of the specific foreclosure order are the only reliable ways to know what you are getting.

Federal Tax Liens and the 120-Day IRS Redemption Right

If a federal tax lien was recorded against the former owner, buying at a county auction doesn’t automatically clear it. Federal law gives the IRS 120 days after the sale to redeem the property by reimbursing your purchase price and taking title.⁹

For the lien to be discharged by the sale at all, proper notice must go to the IRS by registered or certified mail at least 25 days before the sale, and the notice must specifically identify the lien. If the county didn’t give proper notice and the lien was filed more than 30 days before the sale, the property transfers subject to the federal tax lien. You now own a parcel the IRS still has a claim on.⁹ Check the federal lien index for any parcel you’re serious about. Counties vary in how carefully they handle these notices, and the consequences land on the buyer.

Environmental Due Diligence

Properties that sit neglected for years can carry contamination that dwarfs the purchase price in cleanup costs. Abandoned gas stations, dry cleaners, and industrial sites are obvious risks, but even residential parcels can hide buried heating oil tanks or illegal dumping.

CERCLA offers a defense: a buyer who qualifies as a “bona fide prospective purchaser” avoids liability for pre-existing contamination, but only after completing “All Appropriate Inquiries” before acquiring the property. In practice that means commissioning a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment meeting ASTM International Standard E1527-21. Rural or forested land uses a separate standard, ASTM E2247-23.¹⁰

A Phase I reviews historical records, regulatory databases, and site conditions. Costs typically start around $1,850 and climb with the parcel’s size and history. If concerns surface, a Phase II with soil and water sampling adds thousands. Skipping the Phase I to save money on a bargain parcel leaves you with no CERCLA defense if contamination appears later. Environmental liens under Michigan’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act also survive the foreclosure and transfer with the deed.⁸

Occupants and Post-Purchase Obligations

The deed gives you legal title. It does not empty the house. If anyone is living in the property, you have to use proper legal channels to remove them. Changing locks or physically removing an occupant without a court order exposes you to liability.

Federal law adds a layer of tenant protection. Under the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, a bona fide tenant with a lease in effect at the time of the foreclosure sale can stay for the remainder of the lease or at least 90 days, whichever is longer. Month-to-month tenants get the 90-day minimum. The lease has to have been an arm’s-length transaction at market rent; a sweetheart arrangement with a family member doesn’t qualify.¹¹ Michigan eviction procedures apply once any federal protection expires. On long-vacant parcels you are more likely to find squatters than legitimate tenants, but the legal process still applies. Budget time and legal fees accordingly.

Your obligations as the new owner start the day the deed records. Current-year property taxes are yours, and falling behind restarts the forfeiture cycle. Local code enforcement is the other pressure point: overgrown lots, unsecured structures, damaged roofing, and accumulated debris can bring fines or, in serious cases, demolition orders billed to the owner. Call the local building or code enforcement office before bidding to check for outstanding violations. A pending demolition order can cost tens of thousands on top of the auction price.

A Note for Former Owners

If you are the former owner of a parcel that was foreclosed and sold, you may have a claim on surplus proceeds. The U.S. Supreme Court held in Tyler v. Hennepin County (2023) that a government cannot keep sale proceeds above the tax debt owed; retaining the excess is a Fifth Amendment taking.¹² Contact the Foreclosing Governmental Unit for your county to file a claim.¹³

1
Tax-Sale.info. Michigan Public Land Auction – Auctions
2
Michigan Department of Treasury. Frequently Asked Questions Tax Foreclosed Real Property Auctions
3
Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity. State Land Bank Authority
4
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211-78m – Granting State Right of First Refusal
5
Tax-Sale.info. Frequently Asked Questions – Michigan Public Land Auction
6
Berrien County, MI. Land Auction
7
Washtenaw County Treasurer. Washtenaw County Treasurer Terms and Conditions of Sale
8
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211-78k – Petition for Foreclosure
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 7425 – Discharge of Liens
10
US EPA. Brownfields All Appropriate Inquiries
11
GovInfo. 12 USC 5220 – Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act
12
Supreme Court of the United States. Tyler v. Hennepin County, Minnesota
13
Michigan Department of Treasury. Property Tax Forfeiture and Foreclosure