Clinton County, MI tax sales

County offices

County notes

• •Clinton County opted out of acting as its own foreclosing governmental unit, so the State of Michigan forecloses and sells Clinton parcels while the county Treasurer's Office handles delinquent tax collection and payoff questions.
• •The Clinton County sale is bundled into a multi county Southern Central Lower Peninsula online session with Gratiot, Ionia, Livingston, Montcalm, and Shiawassee, and the 2026 catalog listed only 10 Clinton parcels.
• •The county's published timeline shows the auction window as July or November of the year following the March 31 vesting of title in the State.
• •County office hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m., closed noon to 1 p.m. Fax is 989-224-5258. The elected Treasurer is Steven E. Wiswasser.

Michigan rules

Redemption

Michigan has no post-sale redemption. The right to redeem runs during the forfeiture year and ends when the foreclosure judgment takes effect. Property forfeited to the county treasurer may be redeemed at any time on or before the March 31 immediately succeeding entry of a judgment foreclosing it, or within 21 days of entry in a contested case. On that date all redemption rights expire and fee simple title vests absolutely in the foreclosing governmental unit. Measured from the March 1 the taxes were returned as delinquent, that is about 25 months, and roughly three years from the year the taxes were levied. A circuit court may withhold a property from foreclosure for one year, or enter an order extending the redemption period as it finds equitable, if the owner is a minor heir, is incompetent, is without means of support, or is undergoing substantial financial hardship, so a parcel can drop off an auction list late.MCL 211.78g - forfeiture to the county treasurer on March 1 after 12 months delinquent, the $175 fee, the additional 1/2 percent per month, and what it costs to redeemMCL 211.78gVerified Aug 6, 2026

Deed deposit

Michigan fixes no statutory deposit. The foreclosing governmental unit may adopt its own procedures governing the conduct of the sale and payment for conveyance, so registration deposits, refunds, and any bidding caps are set county by county and by the auction platform. On Tax-Sale.info, the platform most Michigan counties use, bidding requires a $1,000 pre-authorization hold on a major credit card rather than a cash deposit. Confirm the figure in the county's published auction terms before registering.MCL 211.78m - the auction itself: right of first refusal ladder, the July to November sale window, minimum bid, bidder affidavit, payment, deed, and unsold propertyMCL 211.78mVerified Aug 28, 2026

Surplus proceeds

A person who held a legal interest in the property immediately before the judgment of foreclosure became effective may claim the remaining proceeds. Remaining proceeds are the amount paid to the foreclosing governmental unit for the property, minus the minimum bid, minus other fees and expenses of forfeiture, foreclosure, sale, maintenance, repair, and remediation not already inside the minimum bid, minus a sale commission payable to the unit equal to 5 percent of the amount paid for the property. The claimant must submit a notice of intention on a Department of Treasury form by the July 1 immediately following the effective date of the foreclosure, then file a motion in the same circuit court proceeding in which the foreclosure judgment was effective, during the period beginning February 1 immediately after the property was sold and ending the following May 15. The court sets a hearing, decides the relative priority and value of each claimant's interest, and orders payment. Once the order enters, any further claim relating to that property is barred.MCL 211.78t - claims to remaining proceeds after a tax foreclosure sale, the definition of remaining proceeds, and the 5 percent sale commissionMCL 211.78tVerified Aug 28, 2026

Governing statute

MCL 211.78 to 211.78oMCL 211.78 - legislative intent for the return, forfeiture, and foreclosure system, a county's election to have the state foreclose, and the definition of foreclosing governmental unitMCL 211.78Verified Aug 6, 2026

What the deed conveys: The deed vests fee simple title in the buyer. The judgment of foreclosure extinguishes all liens against the property, including any lien for unpaid taxes or special assessments, except future installments of special assessments and liens recorded by the state or the foreclosing governmental unit under the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. It also extinguishes all existing recorded and unrecorded interests except a visible or recorded easement or right of way, private deed restrictions, the interest of a lessee or an assignee of a lessee under a recorded oil or gas lease, oil and gas interests owned by someone other than the surface owner and preserved under MCL 554.291, interests in property assessable as personal property, and restrictions or other governmental interests imposed under the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act. The deed does not vest title if the foreclosing governmental unit discovers a defect in the foreclosure or cancels the sale, so buyers still price in a quiet title action before resale or title insurance.MCL 211.78k - judgment of foreclosure, expiry of all redemption rights on the succeeding March 31, and the liens and interests the judgment extinguishesMCL 211.78kVerified Aug 28, 2026 See the due diligence guide.

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