The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments February 25 in a case that could reshape how states handle tax foreclosures and the rights of property owners whose homes are seized and sold for unpaid taxes. (Pung v. Isabella County, No. 25-95)
At issue is whether Michigan’s process – allowing counties to take and sell a property at an artificially depressed auction sale price rather than the property’s fair market value – violates the 5th Amendment’s Takings Clause. The petitioner also challenges the county’s act of taking real property worth far more than needed to satisfy a disputed tax debt as violating the 8th Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause.
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