Michigan counties that kept the profit from tax-foreclosure sales would pay former owners 125% of the surplus, less attorneys’ fees and costs, under a federal class settlement covering foreclosures from 2013 through 2020. Claims are due November 23, 2026. A federal judge in Bay City holds the final hearing on January 22, 2027.
Where the 125% comes from, and what comes off it
Each class member with a valid claim “will usually receive 125% of the surplus proceeds” from the sale of the property, less whatever the court awards for attorneys’ fees and costs, the long-form notice says. Surplus is the part of the auction price that exceeded the unpaid taxes, fees and other costs on the property.
The case was filed because counties sold foreclosed homes at auction, took the taxes owed and kept the rest. The lawsuit says that kept money belonged to the former owners. Surplus here means the sale price minus the tax debt, fees and costs, so a house that sold for $60,000 against $15,000 owed produced $45,000 of it.
Interim class counsel has said it intends to seek a fee of 20 percent, plus reimbursement of costs up to $25,000. Fees come out of class members’ payments, while the counties pay the costs. The judge sets the final figure.
The notice adds that payments may shrink if a claimant also pursues a separate Public Act 256 claim, or if claim volume runs unexpectedly high. The administrator’s home page calls the 125% “subject to certain potential adjustments,” which is why the word “generally” appears in the formula.
Class members are people, or their estates, who owned property outright in a participating county, lost it to foreclosure for unpaid taxes, and saw it sold at tax auction for more than the minimum sale price between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2020, without the county refunding the surplus. Heirs must file a claim as well, and a completed claim is required before any payment.
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For a house with that $45,000 surplus, the formula starts from 125% of the figure, or $56,250, before any fee deduction the court approves. The 125% is the notice’s own wording for what claimants will usually receive, and the example is only an illustration of the starting number.
The November 23 claim date, and the older one it replaced
The original notice put the claim deadline at 11:59 p.m. on July 16, 2026. An August 25, 2026 court order in the Saginaw County case, Fox v. County of Saginaw, moved it: class members “must submit their claims on or before November 23, 2026.” The matching order in the Cheboygan and Monroe case carries the same date.
Claims can be filed through the settlement’s online portal or on a printed form mailed to the administrator, RG/2 Claims Administration. Notices carry a unique ID. Anyone who believes they belong but has no ID can call 1-866-742-4955 or email SurplusProceedsSettlement@rg2claims.com.
The claim form also reaches families. The notice includes estates of owners who died or went bankrupt, and the administrator says heirs must submit a completed claim to be eligible for payment.
The 28 counties, split across two lawsuits
The 28 participating counties are Alcona, Alpena, Arenac, Bay, Clare, Cheboygan, Crawford, Genesee, Gladwin, Gratiot, Huron, Isabella, Jackson, Lapeer, Lenawee, Macomb, Midland, Monroe, Montmorency, Ogemaw, Oscoda, Otsego, Presque Isle, Roscommon, Saginaw, Sanilac, St. Clair and Tuscola.
Two cases carry the deal. Fox v. County of Saginaw, No. 1:19-cv-11887, covers every listed county except Cheboygan and Monroe, which fall under Arkona v. County of Cheboygan, No. 1:19-cv-12372. The administrator says the suits allege the counties violated the rights of non-taxpayers by keeping the surplus proceeds.
A property foreclosed by a county that is not on the list is outside this settlement, and so is a sale from outside the 2013 through 2020 window. A reader whose county is missing has no claim here, whatever the property sold for.
A January 22 final hearing that is not a deadline
The settlement fairness hearing is set for January 22, 2027, at 3:00 p.m. before Judge David M. Lawson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Northern Division, in Bay City. Both August 25 orders use that date.
Nothing is due that day. The hearing is where the judge considers final approval of the settlement and class counsel’s request for fees and costs, according to the administrator. The claim form is due about two months earlier.
The administrator’s document list also shows two December 23, 2025 orders, one granting the counties’ motion to enforce the settlement agreement and one denying a motion to vacate the preliminary approval order. The court had granted preliminary approval earlier.
The earlier notice listed a September 23, 2026 hearing, which the court has since replaced. The administrator says a hearing can be moved without a mailed notice and tells class members to keep watching the site.
Money moves only after final approval. The notice says that with no appeals the process “will take at least nine months,” and appeals add time. For a family, the open question is whether a foreclosed home sold for more than the tax debt and whether the county ever sent the difference back.
Did a Michigan county keep the extra from a tax-foreclosure sale?
The Michigan dates have already moved. The claim deadline went from July 16 to November 23, and the hearing went from September 23 to January 22. A family working from an older notice could file against a date that no longer applies.
The Settlement & Refund Recovery System teaches the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice and walks through filing step by step. Its claim log and payment tracker keep a claim like this one in view through a wait of many months.
Get the four-date notice rule and filing system for the November 23 Michigan surplus claim →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
