Thousands of Wayne County residents who lost their homes to tax foreclosure are desperate for repayment of court ordered funds

Media Contact: Barbara M. Fornasiero, EAFocus Communications; barbara@eafocus.com; 248.260.8466

Southfield, Mich. — October 15, 2025 —As of this month, Wayne County is now the only holdout in Michigan to comply with its legal obligation to return an estimated $120 million in surplus sale proceeds to thousands of residents whose homes – mainly in Detroit – were sold at auction following tax foreclosure. Not content to receive the amount owed in back taxes, Wayne County, along with over 80 other counties in Michigan that were subsequently consolidated into four county/geographic jurisdictions for litigation purposes, pocketed hundreds of millions in sale proceeds rather than return them to the former homeowners.

Following decisive legal decisions, including two at the Michigan Supreme Court, Oakland County returned an estimated $38 million in 2023; a second case of eastern counties, Fox v. Saginaw County, is in final settlement mode; and, on the west side of Michigan, the settlement in Wayside v. Van Buren County was approved on October 9, 2025, in the Sixth Circuit. From Wayne County Executive Warren Evans and Treasurer Eric Sabree? Crickets.

Attorneys Aaron Cox, of The Law Offices of Aaron D. Cox; David J. Shea, of Shea Law; and Jason Thompson, of Sommers Schwartz, are leading the class action lawsuit Bowles v. Wayne County, filed in 2020 on behalf of thousands of Wayne County residents. They say Circuit Court Judge Raymond Kethledge’s cutting remarks to all Michigan Counties in this month’s Wayside decision go to the heart of the matter in the Wayne County case, too.

‘“In closing, what is most remarkable, in the litigation of these claims… is the counties’ complete lack of remorse. Their victims for the most part were their own residents; and what the counties forcibly and unlawfully took from them sometimes amounted to their life savings… The counties have employed every available legal artifice to keep as much of that money as they possibly can. As a technical, legal matter, that was their right; and yet one can be disappointed. Local governments should serve their people, not prey upon them.”’

Hon.  Raymond Kethledge, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit

“Judge Kethledge’s powerful words to the Michigan counties involved in the theft should prompt a reckoning from Mr. Evans and Mr. Sabree and finally spur them to action,” Cox said.

Thompson added, “It’s ironic that Mr. Evans is receiving the Dennis Archer Public Service Award next month while he refuses to return $120 million back to his own people.  As the judge said, he instead is preying upon them. Hardly the actions of a Dennis Archer award recipient.”

Background

In the landmark 2020 Michigan Supreme Court Case, Rafaeli v. Oakland County, the Court, voting 7-0, reversed a Court of Appeals decision and found that local governments cannot retain surplus proceeds from the sale of a home that had been foreclosed upon for failure to pay property taxes (i.e. tax foreclosure). To do so was deemed “unlawful” and an unconstitutional taking without just compensation under the Michigan Constitution. The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit followed in 2022, and by 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously declared the practice unconstitutional in an identical case arising out of Hennepin County, Minnesota.

The Michigan Supreme Court then took up the question of whether tax foreclosed property owners who lost surplus proceeds before the Court decided the Rafaeli case – that is if the taking occurred prior to the 2020 decision – could pursue a claim for a return of their money against the counties. On July 29, 2024, in another 7-0 decision, the Michigan Supreme Court – after hearing arguments on related cases subsequent to Rafaeli – ruled that the 2020 decision must be applied retroactively, giving full constitutional protection to an even larger group of citizens.

As Wayne County touts fiscal transformation, residents wait years for their own money

Despite dubious and half-hearted efforts to make it appear that Wayne County has taken action, there has been no meaningful repayment process, according to Shea.

“The Wayne County website references a fiscal transformation under Mr. Evans’ leadership, yet one can’t help but wonder how much of the $120+ million owed to his constituents is helping to prop up the transformation,” Shea explained. “Mr. Evans and Mr. Sabree continue to dodge the county’s fiscal responsibility for repayment. They know what they need to do and choose not to do it – instead, focusing their energies on denying FOIA requests, withholding financial records and lodging failed legal arguments in the Bowles class action.”

Thompson added, “In the meantime, residents owed money have died, while others are in dire financial straits. This isn’t the vision on the Wayne County website treasurer’s page to ‘…treat everyone with dignity and respect.’ It’s legally and ethically wrong – and we won’t stop until Wayne County has repaid every penny, plus interest, to its people.”

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