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Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that local governments are not constitutionally required to pay homeowners the fair market value of property seized and sold in tax foreclosure proceedings.
Isabella County, Michigan, rejected a decade-long challenge brought by the estate of a family whose home was seized over a disputed $2,241.93 tax bill and auctioned for $76,008 — well below its $194,400 assessed value.
The ruling sets a clear baseline for takings-clause disputes but leaves a live procedural fight still unresolved in the lower courts.
A Pragmatic Ruling With a Moral Asterisk Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the court, held that the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause requires only that the government pay the price obtained at a fairly conducted public tax sale — not a hypothetical fair market value.
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