The Delta County Treasurer’s Office recently held a show cause hearing this week at the Delta County Courthouse. In this show cause hearing, several members of the community met with Delta County Treasurer Sherry Godfrey to discuss the upcoming foreclosure procedures for 2021.
The show cause hearing was an opportunity for the owners of properties in Delta County unpaid taxes to discuss options with the Treasurer. Unpaid taxes that had been assessed in 2018 are at risk of foreclosure on March 31, 2021. There are currently 115 parcels in Delta County at risk of foreclosure.
Several of the taxpayers who attended the show cause hearing were granted a Hardship Extension, which is a one-time delay of the foreclosure process. This delay gives taxpayers an additional year to pay delinquent taxes before the County forecloses their homes. Prior to 2020, the State of Michigan allowed county treasurers the ability to delay the foreclosure process, but beginning in 2020, the State of Michigan passed new legislation requiring counties to have a hardship policy put in place and published before a treasurer is allowed to grant that extension.
Treasurer Sherry Godfrey had a hardship extension policy approved by the Delta County Board of Directors on March 3, 2020, and that policy allows for the one-year extension of time to pay delinquent taxes.
The deadline for foreclosure is quickly approaching. March 31, 2021 is the last day to pay 2018 taxes before foreclosure. Tax foreclosure is permanent; there is no redemption period such as a mortgage foreclosure might have. Anybody with unpaid 2018 property taxes should contact Delta County Treasurer Sherry Godfrey as soon as possible to discuss their options prior to the foreclosure date. The Delta County Treasurer’s Office is in the Delta County Courthouse, and working hours are from 8-4 Monday-Friday. The Delta County Treasurer Office direct line is 906-789-5117.
Anybody interested in a property that has been posted due to delinquent taxes may also contact the Treasurer’s Office. Neighbors and the general public may have seen orange notices posted on delinquent properties each August and September. The Treasurer’s Office sas it will gladly put potential buyers in contact with current property owners in the hope that a private sale will happen before the foreclosure process occurs.
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