Tax Delinquency and Assesor's Records Question

[Ryan York]

Hello all,

To start, I live in Michigan where your property is forfeited to the county after 2 years of delinquency. I've been analyzing some tax delinquency lists and I've found several properties that have delinquencies longer than two years with the owner still listed as the owner. 

My question is, would the city assessor's online database not change the owner of the property even if it is forfeited, or is it more likely the person still owns the property for some reason?

[Richard Dunlop]

"Forfeited" to the county means absolutely nothing in Michigan.

Even after the "Foreclosure" the counties are still hoping the owner will come in and work out a payment plan.

I've seen properties that said "forfeited" four years in a row and  the county never did the "foreclosure" even though nothing was paid on any of the "forfeiture" years.

In most cities the record will not change until the new owner files the PTA.