Surplus proceeds from a foreclosure sale; General Property Tax Act (GPTA); MCL 211.78t; In re Muskegon Cnty Treasurer for Foreclosure

The court held that “plaintiff failed to enforce his right to any surplus proceeds from the foreclosure sale, and the trial court did not err by granting summary disposition in favor of defendants.” The underlying facts were not in dispute. “Plaintiff owned property that was foreclosed upon in” 3/22. In 10/22, “defendants sold the property at auction to a third party. Plaintiff did not follow the procedure in MCL 211.78t for claiming proceeds from the sale of foreclosed property, and, instead, sued defendants in” 9/23 for the proceeds. Plaintiff relied “on his belief that our Supreme Court would reverse this Court’s decision in Muskegon[,]” in which the court “held that the respondents failed to avail themselves of the procedure under MCL 211.78t, and, therefore, forfeited their right to proceeds. Our Supreme Court has since denied leave to appeal.” Thus, the court was bound by Muskegon. Plaintiff argued “that the statute denied [him] due process, and he asks that this Court hold that MCL 211.78t ‘is unconstitutional for the reasons stated in the appellants’ argument in Muskegon County.’ Beyond asserting that MCL 211.78t constitutes a taking, however, plaintiff does not specify any alleged errors in the reasoning underlying the Muskegon Court’s conclusions, does not cite any authority contradicting the Muskegon Court’s conclusions, and does not attempt to distinguish the present case from Muskegon.” Affirmed.