Motion for disbursement of the remaining proceeds after a real property tax-foreclosure sale; The General Property Tax Act; Whether MCL 211.78t violates procedural due process; In re Petition of Muskegon Cnty Treasurer for Foreclosure; Takings Clause claims; Waived arguments

In this appeal from the denial of a motion for disbursement of the remaining proceeds after a real property tax-foreclosure sale, the court held that the claimant-trust’s preserved issues (that MCL 211.78t violates procedural due process and taking claims under the federal and state constitutions) failed in light of Muskegon Cnty Treasurer. Claimant waived the five other issues it raised for the first time on appeal, and the court also found they lacked merit. As to claimant’s preserved issues, the court noted that it held in Muskegon Cnty Treasurer “that the ‘[t]he statutory scheme set up by our Legislature . . . satisfies due process[,]’ and that, if the procedures in MCL 211.78t are followed, ‘the risk of erroneous deprivation is nil . . . .’” Because the court was bound by the decision in Muskegon Cnty Treasurer, “and petitioner followed the procedures outlined in MCL 211.78t, claimant has failed to establish that its due process rights were violated.” The court also held in Muskegon Cnty Treasurer “that the respondents did not have a compensable Takings Clause claim because the Legislature provided a statutory pathway to recover any remaining proceeds, the petitioner followed this statutory scheme, and the respondents failed to take the minimally burdensome first step to recover the proceeds by filing a timely notice of intention. Again, because” the court was bound by that holding, claimant “failed to establish that it has a compensable Takings Clause claim.” Further, the court saw no faults in Muskegon Cnty Treasurer “warranting a conflict opinion” so that a special panel of the court could review that decision.