Michigan foreclosure rights ended when title vested on March 31

In the federal Sixth Circuit, the decisive date was March 31, 2022: that is when title vested absolutely and Reinhardt’s ownership ended. The loss did not become final at the earlier forfeiture step, when the property was forfeited on March 1, 2021 because the taxes were unpaid. Instead, the timeline moved through forfeiture, then foreclosure judgment, and only then to the date that actually cut off title.

The foreclosure timeline

Reinhardt first forfeited the property on March 1, 2021 after the taxes went unpaid. The Michigan circuit court later entered foreclosure judgment on February 18, 2022. Those earlier steps mattered, but they did not yet mean title had fully shifted out of her name. Under Michigan law, the critical turn came later, when title vested absolutely on March 31, 2022.

Why March 31 mattered

That date mattered because it marked the point when Reinhardt lost all rights in the property except the right to any remaining sale proceeds. For homeowners, that kind of cutoff is the difference between still owning the property and having only a narrow claim to leftover money after the foreclosure process is complete. In other words, the final legal trigger was not the initial forfeiture or even the judgment date, but the moment title vested.