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If your home went through tax foreclosure, there are steps you can take to ask for any money that may be left over after the home is sold or transferred.

If you lost your home to tax foreclosure between December 22, 2014 and December 22, 2020, please read the Can I Ask for Any Leftover Money If I've Already Lost My Home to Tax Foreclosure? section.

Notice that You Plan to Ask for Leftover Money

In order to claim this money, you have to submit a form saying that you plan to ask for the money. The Michigan Department of Treasury has created a Notice of Intention to Claim Interest in Foreclosure Sales Proceeds Form that you can fill out.

This form must be sent by the July 1 following when your home was foreclosed. This means that if the foreclosure was finalized between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025, you need to submit the form by July 1, 2025. Most foreclosures are completed in March, and if the foreclosure judgment amount isn't paid by March 31, the homeowner will lose title to the home to the county treasurer.

If you don't know when the foreclosure was finalized, you can call your county treasurer’s office or search the court record at the circuit court where your home is located.

Once you fill out the form, get it notarized.

After it is notarized, make a copy for your records. Then, send the original by certified mail, return receipt requested, or give the form in person to your Foreclosing Governmental Unit (FGU). Most of the time, the FGU is the treasurer in the county where the home is located. If your home was located in Branch, Clinton, Iosco, Livingston, or Mecosta counties, the FGU is the State Treasurer. You can find the address for your FGU using this chart from the State of Michigan.

After Your Home is Sold, You Should Get a Notice from the FGU

After you fill out and send the Notice, the FGU will send you a Notice called the 5744 Notice to Claimant to File Motion. They will send you this Notice by January 31 after your home was sold or transferred. This Notice will have a lot of important information in it, including:

if there is leftover money to claim (the law calls this “remaining proceeds”),
if anyone else has filed a claim for the leftover money,
a statement that you have to file a motion to claim the remaining money, and
the case number, judge, and contact information for the circuit court clerk for the case where you need to file the motion

After You Get a Notice from the FGU, You Can File Your Motion

After getting your notice from the FGU, you need to file a motion asking the court for the leftover money from the foreclosure sale. You need to file this motion between February 1 and May 15 after your home was sold or transferred.

You can use the Do-It-Yourself Motion to Reclaim Proceeds from Tax Foreclosure Sale tool to help you create this motion. The tool will also create step-by-step instructions telling you what to do after you complete the form. These instructions can also be found on the Mortgage Foreclosure and Tax Foreclosure Resource Page.

Hearing on the Motion

After you file and serve the motion, the FGU will file a response. The court will then set a court date for the judge to decide the motion. You will get a notice from the court with that court date.

At this hearing, you will need to explain why you are asking for the leftover money. Be sure to bring a copy of your motion and any proof you have that you owned the home before it went into tax foreclosure. The judge will then decide whether you get any of the leftover money. If you do, the FGU has to pay you within 21 days.

Can I Ask for Any Leftover Money if I've Already Lost My Home to Tax Foreclosure?

A Michigan Supreme Court case recently decided that people who lost their home to tax foreclosure between December 22, 2014 and December 22, 2020 may be able to ask for any money that was left over after their home was sold or transferred. Those dates are December 22, 2016 and December 22, 2020 if your home was located in Branch, Clinton, Iosco, Livingston, and Mecosta counties. The time is shorter for these counties because their County Treasurer decided to let the State Treasurer handle tax foreclosures.

In order to claim any leftover money, you first need to submit a form saying that you plan to ask for the money. The Michigan Department of Treasury has created a Notice of Intention to Claim Interest in Foreclosure Sale Proceeds From Sales Occurring Prior to December 22, 2020 form that you can fill out.

Once you filled the Notice out, get it notarized. Then, make a copy for your records. After that, either send the original by certified mail, return receipt requested or give the form in person to your Foreclosing Governmental Unit (FGU). Most of the time, the FGU is the treasurer in the county where the home is located. If your home was located in Branch, Clinton, Iosco, Livingston, Luce, or Mecosta counties, the FGU is the State Treasurer. You can find the address for your FGU using this chart from the State of Michigan.

You must submit this form by March 31, 2025.

Since the time limit to ask for the money may be running out, the sooner you file your Notice, the better your chances of being able to claim any leftover money.

After you submit a Notice, the FGU will send you a Notice called the 5744 Notice to Claimant to File Motion. They will send you this Notice by the following July 1. This Notice will have a lot of important information in it, including:

if there is leftover money to claim (the law calls this "remaining proceeds")
if anyone else has filed a claim for the leftover money
a statement that you have to file a motion to claim the remaining money, and
the case number, judge, and contact information for the circuit court clerk for the case where you need to file the motion

After getting your notice from the FGU, you need to file a motion asking the court for the leftover money from the foreclosure sale. You need to file this motion by October 1 after you get your notice from the FGU.