USA Foreclosure Wiki

Macomb County, MI

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Macomb County, Michigan — Tax Sale & Surplus Procedure

Local operations layer. The legal framework (redemption periods, surplus rights, statutes, case law) lives on the parent page → michigan. This page covers how Macomb County actually runs it. Legal information, not legal advice. Last verified: 2026-06-02.

C0. Identity

  • County seat: Mount Clemens
  • Population: ~881,217 (2020 census; FIPS 26099)
  • Recording unit: county
  • Parent legal framework: michigan
  • Foreclosing Governmental Unit (FGU): The Macomb County Treasurer serves as the FGU, conducting the in-rem judicial foreclosure process under MCL 211.78 et seq. independently (inferred from the county’s own auction infrastructure, annual in-rem pleadings styled In re Petition of Macomb County Treasurer for Foreclosure, and Form 5743 claims directed to the Treasurer’s Office — state-level FGU election confirmation: see needs_verification).
  • Circuit court: 16th Judicial Circuit Court, Macomb County

C1. Local Tax Sale

C2. Local Redemption → framework: right-of-redemption

C3. Local Surplus / Excess Proceeds → framework: surplus-funds

For foreclosure sales on or after December 22, 2020 (MCL 211.78t process):

For foreclosure sales December 22, 2014 – December 22, 2020 (transitional window):

Fox v. Saginaw County class action settlement (sales 2013–2020):

Contact for surplus claims:

  • Macomb County Treasurer’s Office: 586-469-5100 | 1 S. Main St., 2nd Floor, Mount Clemens, MI 48043
  • 16th Judicial Circuit Court Clerk: 40 N. Main St., Mount Clemens, MI 48043 | 586-469-5351
  • CourtView public case access: https://courtpa.macombgov.org/eservices/

▸ For Investors / Operators — Macomb County’s annual tax auction runs on the Zeus Auction platform (zeusauction.com) between the third Tuesday in July and the first Tuesday in November; the parcel list becomes available after July 1. A pre-auction right of first refusal runs state → local unit → County before public bidding (MCL 211.78m(1)). There is no post-foreclosure redemption right — title vests in the FGU on March 31 of the foreclosure year (MCL 211.78k(6)). Any person who held an interest in the property is barred from purchasing it for less than outstanding taxes and fees. Check the 2025 Auction Rules PDF for deposit requirements.

▸ For Former Owners — For sales on or after December 22, 2020, recovery requires two steps: (1) file Michigan Treasury Form 5743 (“Notice of Intention to Claim Interest”) with the Macomb County Treasurer by July 1 of the foreclosure year; (2) then file Form CC540 (Motion to Claim Remaining Proceeds) in the 16th Judicial Circuit Court between February 1 and May 15 of the following year. Missing either deadline bars recovery (MCL 211.78t). For sales between 2013–2020, check the Fox v. Saginaw County class action settlement (claim deadline July 16, 2026) at surplusproceedssettlement.com.

C4. Offices & Contacts

OfficeNameAddressPhoneURL
Treasurer / FGU (tax sale & surplus claims)Lawrence Rocca1 S. Main St., 2nd Floor, Mount Clemens, MI 48043586-469-5190 (main); 586-469-5446 (tax foreclosure/payment plans)https://www.macombgov.org/departments/treasurers-office
Clerk / Register of Deeds (combined office)Anthony G. ForliniClerk: 40 N. Main St.; Register of Deeds: 120 N. Main St., Mount Clemens, MI 48043586-469-5351 (Clerk/Court); 586-469-5120 (gen.); 586-469-7953 (Register of Deeds)https://www.macombgov.org/departments/clerk-register-deeds
16th Judicial Circuit Court (in-rem / 78t motions)(Clerk of Circuit Court, same office as above)40 N. Main St., 1st Floor, Mount Clemens, MI 48043586-469-5351https://courtpa.macombgov.org/eservices/
Sheriff (mortgage foreclosure by advertisement)Anthony M. Wickersham43565 Elizabeth Road, Mt. Clemens, MI 48043586-469-5151https://www.macombgov.org/departments/sheriffs-office

Sources: https://www.macombgov.org/departments/treasurers-office (retrieved 2026-06-02); https://www.macombgov.org/departments/clerk-register-deeds/register-deeds (retrieved 2026-06-02); https://www.macombgov.org/departments/sheriffs-office (retrieved 2026-06-02)

C5. Local Procedure Notes

  • Three-year timeline confirmed: Macomb County follows the standard GPTA three-year cycle: delinquency (Year 1 March 1) → forfeiture to county treasurer (Year 2 March 1) → judgment of foreclosure (Year 3 February/March) → redemption cutoff (Year 3 March 31) → public auction (third Tuesday July through first Tuesday November). Source: https://www.macombgov.org/departments/treasurers-office/tax-foreclosure/forfeitureforeclosure-timeline (retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • In-rem case numbering: The county files one consolidated in-rem petition per year. The 2026 action (for 2023 and prior tax years) is docketed as 2025-2407-CH in the 16th Judicial Circuit Court. Source: https://www.macombgov.org/departments/treasurers-office/tax-foreclosure/tax-foreclosure-pleadings (retrieved 2026-06-02)
  • April 1 anomaly: For properties with 2021 taxes, the redemption deadline was April 1 rather than March 31 (noted in county timeline). No statutory explanation given; likely a day-of-week or COVID adjustment — see needs_verification.
  • Surplus for pre-2021 sales: Excess proceeds from auctions before 2021 are addressed through the Fox class action settlement (July 16, 2026 claim deadline) rather than the 78t Form 5743 process.
  • Sheriff civil process portal: A dedicated page listing upcoming sheriff sales (mortgage foreclosure by advertisement) was not located on the county website during this research cycle — see needs_verification.
  • Newspaper of record: The Macomb Daily is the newspaper used for publication of the tax foreclosure notice and show-cause hearing. Source: https://www.macombgov.org/departments/treasurers-office/tax-foreclosure/tax-foreclosure-pleadings (retrieved 2026-06-02)

C6. Records Access

C7. Meta

Sources retrieved

needs_verification

  • “Macomb County Treasurer’s election as FGU — state-level primary confirmation (Michigan Treasury county list) not fetched; inferred from county’s own in-rem filings and auction infrastructure. Confirm via https://www.michigan.gov/taxes/property/forfeiture-foreclosure/county (returns 403 Forbidden).”
  • “Zeus Auction deposit amount and full bidder requirements — 2025 Auction Rules PDF (https://sites.macombgov.org/files/files/2025-08/AuctionRules%202025%208.4.25.pdf) exists on county server but returned certificate error during retrieval; deposit figure unknown. County auction-and-claims page does not specify a deposit amount.”
  • “Sheriff civil process page for Macomb County (upcoming mortgage foreclosure/sheriff sale list, civil process division contact) — no civil-process sub-page located; https://www.macombgov.org/departments/sheriffs-office/civil-process returns 404. Direct contact: 586-469-5151.”
  • “April 1 (instead of March 31) redemption deadline for 2021 taxes — county forfeiture timeline confirms April 1, 2024 for 2021 taxes but provides no statutory explanation for the one-day deviation from the standard March 31 cutoff.”
  • “Unclaimed/forfeited remaining proceeds (when no Form 5743 filed) — whether Macomb County publishes an unclaimed-list or whether proceeds are retained by the FGU under MCL 211.78t without further escheat step; no county-level list URL found on any official page.”
  • “Fee line items in the forfeiture timeline ($15 Oct 1 fee;$50 personal-visit fee Sept 1; $35 publication fee Nov) — county timeline lists them but specific GPTA subsection authority for each not confirmed against primary statute text.”

michigan, right-of-redemption, surplus-funds, third-party-recovery-rules, treasurer-sale, sheriff-sale, due-process-notice, rafaeli-v-oakland-county-2020, tyler-v-hennepin-county, bankruptcy-automatic-stay, federal-tax-lien-redemption, heirs-property

changelog

  • {date: 2026-06-02, note: “Initial Macomb County page drafted. Sources: macombgov.org Treasurer/Auction-and-Claims, forfeiture timeline, clerk/register of deeds, sheriff, GIS, tax information, Fox class action, court records pages. Zeus Auction confirmed as sale platform. Form 5743 / CC540 surplus process verified against county pages. Fox settlement confirmed (July 16, 2026 deadline). 8 needs_verification items flagged (gap_score 8 = 8 × row-2 points).“}
  • {date: 2026-06-02, note: “Gap-close pass: (1) Confirmed Form CC541 URL (https://www.courts.michigan.gov/4aa633/siteassets/forms/scao-approved/cc541.pdf) retrieved directly — title verified as ‘Motion to Claim Remaining Proceeds From Tax Foreclosure Sale Before July 18, 2020’; (2) Confirmed Treasurer sends Form 5744 by January 31 as notification mechanism (from auction-and-claims page); removed those 2 needs_verification items. (3) Removed 2 broken wiki-links (barry-county-treasurer-foreclosure-2024, jackson-v-southfield-2025) — these cases do not exist in the wiki. gap_score reduced from 8 to 6 (6 × row-2 points remaining).“}

▸ For Investors / Operators — Macomb County’s annual tax auction runs on the Zeus Auction platform (zeusauction.com) between the third Tuesday in July and the first Tuesday in November; the parcel list becomes available after July 1. A pre-auction right of first refusal runs state → local unit → County before public bidding (MCL 211.78m(1)). There is no post-foreclosure redemption right — title vests in the FGU on March 31 of the foreclosure year (MCL 211.78k(6)). Any person who held an interest in the property is barred from purchasing it for less than outstanding taxes and fees. Check the 2025 Auction Rules PDF for deposit requirements.

▸ For Former Owners — For sales on or after December 22, 2020, recovery requires two steps: (1) file Michigan Treasury Form 5743 (“Notice of Intention to Claim Interest”) with the Macomb County Treasurer by July 1 of the foreclosure year; (2) then file Form CC540 (Motion to Claim Remaining Proceeds) in the 16th Judicial Circuit Court between February 1 and May 15 of the following year. Missing either deadline bars recovery (MCL 211.78t). For sales between 2013–2020, check the Fox v. Saginaw County class action settlement (claim deadline July 16, 2026) at surplusproceedssettlement.com.

Legal information, not legal advice. This page summarizes Macomb County, Michigan tax- and mortgage-foreclosure operations from official county sources retrieved on 2026-06-02. Statutes, fee schedules, office personnel, and procedures change; verify against the cited primary sources and consult a licensed Michigan attorney before acting.

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