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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS


DAVID GILLIE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v GENESEE COUNTY TREASURER, Defendant-Appellee, and GENE L. WHITE, BARRY D. FLOYD, and KAREL J. FLOYD, Defendants.

FOR PUBLICATION December 11, 2007 9:05 a.m. No. 275268 Genesee Circuit Court LC No. 05-081012-CH Advance Sheets Version

Before: Davis, P.J., and Murphy and Servitto, JJ. MURPHY, J. Plaintiff David Gillie appeals as of right the trial court's order granting summary disposition in favor of defendant Genesee County Treasurer (the county) in this action arising out of a tax sale of property for delinquent 2001 property taxes and involving a dispute with respect to the ownership of the property. This case entails interpretation of the General Property Tax Act (GPTA), MCL 211.1 et seq. We vacate the judgment and order and remand for further proceedings on the issue of notice. I. Basic Facts and Procedural History At issue in this dispute is real property located on Fenton Road in the city of Flint, county of Genesee, having a tax parcel number of 40-24-428-039 and being legally described as lot 37 of the Earns Wideman Plat (hereinafter the property). A warranty deed dated July 1, 1992, reflects that the property had been owned by defendants Barry D. and Karel J. Floyd and that they conveyed the property to defendant Gene L. White. White, however, did not record the deed until February 14, 2005.

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The county asserts on appeal and also asserted below: White was a Flint resident for 45 years; in 1998 he moved to Arkansas; at the time of his move, he notified the city of Flint to send his tax bills to his Arkansas address; the city complied and sent White's tax bills to his new Arkansas address for a time, but the city, without the direction or consent of White, subsequently and inexplicably changed his address in its tax records back to his old Flint address, although White still remained in Arkansas; and the 2001 tax bills were erroneously sent to White's Flint address and not the Arkansas address.1 As noted by plaintiff, these assertions are not supported by documentary evidence in the record, although plaintiff makes no express claim that they are untrue.2 In May 2003, the county filed a petition for foreclosure on the basis that the property had been forfeited to the county for failure to pay $1,292 in property taxes for 2001. In the tax foreclosure proceedings, a show cause hearing relative to the delinquent taxes and forfeiture was scheduled for January 29 and 30, 2004, and, in addition, a judicial foreclosure hearing was scheduled for February 9, 2004. The information concerning the hearings was contained in a single notice. According to an affidavit executed by a representative of Title Check, LLC, a company that contracted with the county to provide various tax lien foreclosure services, including the serving of notices for show cause and judicial foreclosure hearings, the notice for the January and February hearings was sent to White's old Flint address by certified mail, return receipt requested, in December 2003. Title Check records attached to the affidavit state, "attempted not known

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Michigan Law