T

he Michigan Supreme Court ruled 
that Michigan counties can no longer 
keep profits from foreclosure auc-
tions, according to the July 17 ruling. 
The state Supreme Court’
s ruling is the 
result of a lawsuit filed earli-
er this year against Oakland 
County by 85-year-old 
Southfield resident Uri Rafaeli. 
Rafaeli accidentally underpaid 
property taxes on a home 
owned by his business by $8.41 
in 2014, causing the county to 
foreclose on the home. When the property 
sold in an auction for $24,500, the county 
kept the profits. 
Because state law dictates that counties 
should keep these profits, the matter now 
goes on to the state legislature, which will 
replace the current law with a new one. 
Foreclosures in Michigan are managed 

by county treasurers. In Oakland County, 
that role belongs to Meisner. He is currently 
running a primary campaign for Oakland 
County Executive against David Coulter, 
who currently holds the position. Coulter’
s 
office said it was appointing a special com-
mittee to investigate Meisner’
s management 
of property tax foreclosures. 
Oakland County Board of Commissioners 
Chairman David Woodward (D-Royal Oak) 
and Republican Caucus Chairman Michael 
Gingell (R-Lake Orion) put out a statement 
against Meisner following the ruling last 
Friday. 
“The Oakland County Board of 
Commissioners is gravely concerned that 
County Treasurer Andy Meisner violated the 
constitutional rights of an elderly homeown-
er, and other residents, as determined by the 
unanimous Michigan Supreme Court today,
” 
the statement reads. “This carelessness and 

ineptitude will likely cost Oakland County 
taxpayers more than $34 million. In light 
of this ruling, the Board will have to eval-
uate what steps need to be taken to protect 
taxpayers and ensure the treasurer does not 
make this mistake again.
” 
But Meisner said he’
s just been doing his 
job. State law has dictated since 2002 that 
counties should keep foreclosure profits, he 
said, and treasurers currently have no discre-
tion under state law to prevent a foreclosure 
for small unpaid property tax balances. 
Meisner is currently drafting a bill with State 
Rep. Robert Wittenberg that would give 
treasurers the ability to pull a property from 
foreclosure if it has a small balance. 
“I’
ve been very proactive as a treasurer 
to try to improve this law while at the same 
time, as the county treasurer and somebody 
that swore an oath to administer the law and 
to be a fiduciary for the county, I’
m obligated 
to take the county’
s position under the law,
” 
Meisner told the Jewish News. 
Furthermore, Meisner doesn’
t foresee this 
ruling costing Oakland County much money, 
let alone the $34 million mentioned in the 
Board of Commissioners’
 statement. He said 
the money that’
s come into the county from 
the sale of tax-foreclosed properties has gone 
into a restricted account in the general fund. 
About 90 percent of the money collected as 
a result of this policy is still there, according 
to Meisner. 
“The short version is there’
s not a major 
fiscal impact on the county,
” he said. “It’
s 
money that’
s been largely set aside. And as 
soon as we figure out the new law, I am mak-
ing job No. 1 getting that money back to the 
previous owners in accordance with the law 
that the legislature adopts.
” 
Meisner, who has held the role of treasurer 
since 2008, said he ran for the office because 
of his family’
s own experience with financial 
vulnerability in Oakland County during his 
childhood. 
“That’
s not only an element of my life’
s 
experience but it certainly is an element of 
my faith as a practicing Jew,
” he said. 
He hasn’
t received any details on the Board 
of Commissioners’
 investigation into his 
practices yet. In the meantime, he said he 
plans to stay compassionate and flexible. 
“I’
m looking forward to … a new law that 
incorporates the lawsuit and the finding of 
the Michigan Supreme Court and to do it in 
a way that’
s fair to property owners, to the 
local cities, villages and towns in the county 
and the state,
” Meisner said. 

Michigan Courts Rule 
Against Oakland County 
on Foreclosure Auctions

Jews in the D

PIXABAY

26 | JULY 30 • 2020 

Andy 
Meisner

Ruling stems from an $8.41 foreclosure 
case involving Treasurer Andy Meisner.

MAYA GOLDMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

