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 figures from a recent foreclosure cycle to illustrate the scope of outreach work: 41,498 parcels turned delinquent, 39,707 were paid in full before the foreclosure deadline, and 1,287 taxpayers entered repayment plans. He said 251 cases resulted in foreclosures, 81 were withheld for reasons such as service or title issues, and 172 properties proceeded to auction; he noted one owner with many vacant lots inflated auction counts. Wittenberg said his office conducted about 1,035 taxpayer-assistance meetings in the most recent season.

To help residents, Wittenberg described programs and partnerships available through the Treasurer's office, including a Financial Empowerment Center that connects people to grants and financial coaching, a Smart Finance Academy webinar series, a $5,000 first-time homebuyer grant in partnership with Independent Bank, and referrals to Lakeshore Legal Aid for legal assistance for eligible low-income families and seniors. He said surplus-claim forms must be filed by July 1 if a foreclosed property produces surplus proceeds after auction.

On local impact, Wittenberg told councilmembers he did not have Wixom-specific forfeiture or foreclosure counts at the meeting but offered to provide historical and current risk data for Wixom after the presentation. He also said Oakland County settled a lawsuit related to equity-taking in foreclosure and that the county had set funds aside for settlement liability but did not provide a single final figure on the record, saying only that the total set-aside and the eventual settlement figure were less than early estimates.

Wittenberg encouraged residents who are behind on taxes to call the county Treasurer's office at 248-858-0611 or email treasure@oakgov.com to schedule an assistance meeting, emphasizing: "We are here to help and we don't know you need help unless you tell us that you need help." He also reminded the public the county's judicial foreclosure hearing was scheduled for Feb. 18 and reiterated March 31 as the statutory deadline to pay to avoid foreclosure.

The council asked the treasurer to provide Wixom-specific data on parcels at risk of forfeiture and foreclosure so the city can conduct local outreach; Wittenberg agreed to supply those figures after the meeting.

Next steps: the county will proceed with statutory timelines unless taxpayers arrange repayment plans or pay in full; councilmembers said they would request the local data from the treasurer's office to target outreach within Wixom.