On September 8, 2025, the Michigan Court of Appeals decided In re Petition of Chippewa County Treasurer (Chaveriat) in favor of our Client.

A man had lost 20 properties to tax foreclosure in Chippewa County. Four of them sold for more than he owed, but the County refused to pay him that money because his other 16 properties sold at a loss. The court said the County was wrong: the law requires each property to be treated on its own, so a loss on one property cannot be used to cancel the money owed on another. This is a published decision, which means trial courts across Michigan must follow it.

The Court decided that “[A] [county] cannot aggregate the surplus proceeds from the sale of one property to offset a shortfall from the sale of another property that the claimant owned.”

The Opinion is attached below, for any of our clients or members of the public who may be interested in learning more about this topic.

Chaveriat COA Opinion.250908