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Michigan · MI

Sell your land in Michigan.

Michigan runs the fastest tax foreclosure calendar in the country — roughly two years from first delinquency to losing the land outright — and it is also the state where the courts ended the practice of counties keeping the surplus when they sell it.

Selling vacant land in Michigan means watching a fixed three-year tax calendar: delinquent, forfeited the following March, foreclosed the March after. There is no redemption once judgment enters. If a parcel was already foreclosed and sold for more than the debt, that surplus may still be claimable under Rafaeli and Tyler.

Tax sale type
Tax deed
Redemption window
1 year
Rate on redemption
Varies; fees plus interest
Closings handled by
Title company
Michigan tax sale and closing at a glance
MichiganWhat applies
Tax sale typeTax deed
Redemption window1 year
Rate on redemptionVaries; fees plus interest
Closing conducted byTitle company

Redemption runs at different stages in different states — before a sale in some, after it in others, and not at all in a few. The sections below set out how it works in Michigan, and where they and this table describe different clocks, the sections are the precise account.

Last reviewed

Figures describe Michigan generally. Counties administer their own sales and their own calendars — your county treasurer is the only source for a payoff figure or a sale date you can act on.

Local detail

What actually matters about land in Michigan

How long before Michigan forecloses for unpaid taxes?

Michigan property taxes that go unpaid are returned as delinquent to the county treasurer, the parcel is forfeited the following March, and it is foreclosed the March after that. Once the foreclosure judgment enters and the redemption deadline passes, title vests absolutely in the foreclosing governmental unit and there is no post-sale redemption. It is a short, rigid calendar with hard dates rather than a slow drift, and the difference between acting in year two and year three is the difference between selling the land and not owning it.

Can you claim surplus from a Michigan tax foreclosure?

In Rafaeli, LLC v. Oakland County (2020) the Michigan Supreme Court held that keeping the surplus from a tax foreclosure sale — the amount above what was actually owed — is an unconstitutional taking of the former owner's property. The United States Supreme Court reached the same conclusion nationally in Tyler v. Hennepin County (2023). Michigan has a claims procedure with deadlines attached. If a parcel of yours was foreclosed and sold for more than the debt, that difference may still be claimable, and a great deal of it goes unclaimed because owners never learn it exists.

What makes Michigan waterfront land valuable?

Michigan touches four Great Lakes and holds more inland lakes than almost any state, and lake frontage is priced by the linear foot rather than by acreage. What comes with it matters as much: riparian rights on an inland lake, bottomland ownership, and whether a dock is permitted are separate questions from where the boundary runs. A narrow deep lot with good frontage routinely outsells a larger lot with less.

What decides the value of northern Michigan recreational land?

Much of northern Michigan is recreational ground bordered by state forest, and that adjacency cuts both ways — it adds huntable land and it adds pressure from everyone else using it. Two-tracks that cross state or private land without a recorded easement are common, seasonal roads are common, and both are the kind of thing a title company will flag. What the parcel borders and how you legally reach it usually matter more than what it contains.

Questions

Selling land in Michigan

How long before Michigan takes my land for unpaid taxes?

About three years, on fixed dates rather than a rolling clock. Unpaid taxes are returned delinquent to the county treasurer, the parcel is forfeited the following March, and foreclosed the March after. Once the redemption deadline passes after judgment, title vests absolutely and there is no redeeming it afterwards. Acting in year two is a completely different situation from acting in year three.

My Michigan land was already sold at tax foreclosure. Is anything left for me?

Possibly, and it is worth checking. In Rafaeli, LLC v. Oakland County (2020) the Michigan Supreme Court held that a county keeping the surplus above the debt is an unconstitutional taking, and the U.S. Supreme Court agreed nationally in Tyler v. Hennepin County (2023). Michigan has a claims process with deadlines. A significant amount of surplus goes unclaimed simply because former owners do not know it exists.

What makes Michigan lake frontage worth more?

Linear feet of frontage, ahead of total acreage. A narrow deep lot with good frontage generally outsells a wider lot with less, because the buyer is purchasing the water. Riparian rights, bottomland ownership, and whether a dock can be permitted are separate questions from where your boundary sits, and each affects the number independently.

Michigan primary sources

Where a source is named after its publisher rather than the state, it is a third-party mirror of the code — several state legislatures publish no stable public index. A mirror can lag an amendment, so confirm anything time-critical against the county or an attorney.

Sources for the figures above

These are secondary references, accurate enough to orient you and not a substitute for the statute or your county. Tax procedure changes; nothing here is legal advice.

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Michigan law, tax procedure and county practice vary and they change. Nothing here is legal or tax advice about your parcel. Before you act on a deadline, confirm it with the county or with an attorney in that state. See our editorial standards for how this is researched and how to tell us if something is wrong.

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We buy vacant land across Michigan and pay the closing costs. Back taxes are settled from the proceeds. No listing agreement, no fee, and no obligation to accept anything.

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