Oakland County treasurer outlines three-year foreclosure timeline and outreach, urges residents to contact office

Oakland County Treasurer Robert Wittenberg told the Wixom City Council on Jan. 27 that the county's property-tax foreclosure process operates on a statutory three-year timeline and that his office's priority is helping taxpayers avoid foreclosure.

Wittenberg explained that, using 2025 taxes as an example, taxes turn delinquent at the local level in February, are turned over to the county as delinquent on March 1, the county may forfeit tax interest the following March and properties are subject to foreclosure on March 31 of the third year. He said statutory interest adds up during that period: "It's 1% a month (the) first year. The second and third year, it's 1 and a half percent a month retroactive back to when it first got turned over," and that the office does not set those statutory rates.

The treasurer gave county-level…