Clinton County, Michigan

Tax Deed80,050 residentsLive auctions →

County research last verified 2026-07. Office holders, platforms, and deposit rules change — re-confirm anything time-sensitive.

Sale typestate default

Tax Deed

Redemption periodstate default

Forfeiture/foreclosure process ends redemption rights before auction (roughly 2 years of delinquency)

Investor returnstate default

N/A — outright deed transfer

Governing statutestate default

Michigan Compiled Laws §211.78 et seq.

Notes

Michigan tax-deed (circuit court foreclosure) county — foreclosure precedes auction; no post-sale owner redemption of the auction parcel. Clinton County (St. Johns / Lansing metro north) elected the State of Michigan as the Foreclosing Governmental Unit (FGU), not the county treasurer and not a pure county-run tax-sale.info stack in isolation. County timeline for the 2023-tax cycle: Circuit Court judgment Feb 1–28, 2026; clear title to the State Mar 31, 2026; public auction window July / November 2026. State Treasury and Title Check / tax-sale.info list Clinton with other Southern Central Lower Peninsula parcels (e.g. Aug 7, 2026 online auction catalog window listed on tax-sale.info). Surplus/leftover-proceeds Form 5743 claims due July 1 immediately after foreclosure year. Sold AS IS after judgment of foreclosure under MCL 211.78 et seq.

Auction logistics

Format

Online (State FGU / tax-sale.info)

Frequency

Public auction window July / November after March 31 title pass (2026 cycle); multi-county online sessions (e.g. Southern Central LP catalog including Clinton)

Platform

Michigan Public Land Auction — Tax-Sale.info (Clinton County FGU = State of Michigan) ↗

Deposit rules

Create account on tax-sale.info; follow Standard Rules PDF (credit-card pre-auth / deposit terms as posted — commonly ~$1,000 hold on Michigan tax-sale.info counties). Winning bidder notified with payment instructions; failure to fund can forfeit deposit and bar future bids. Properties sold AS IS after foreclosure judgment. Confirm deposit and wire/ACH deadlines on the specific auction page before bidding.

Title risk

Liens that survive the sale

Circuit court foreclosure is intended to convey title free of most prior liens, but federal tax liens and some interests may survive. Occupied property and blight programs add practical complexity. Surplus-proceeds claims by former owners do not reverse title to the winning bidder.

Quiet title

Judgment of foreclosure is the primary title-clearing step; some insurers still want quiet title or extended review for tax-foreclosed parcels, especially occupied inventory near Lansing.

Deal maths for Michigan

Assessment ratio: 0.5× of market value
Typical quiet title: $2,000–$4,000 · 9 mo
Recording and transfer: $300

Michigan state equalized value is 50% of true cash value by constitution (Mich. Const. art. IX, § 3); taxable value may be lower still. The SEV published with these auction listings is taken from the delinquent tax year that was foreclosed upon, so it is typically several years stale — in a rising market it understates current value, and in a falling one it overstates it.

Offices and records

Tax collector

Clinton County Treasurer — Delinquent Tax / Forfeiture-Foreclosure (forfeiture stage); State of Michigan FGU for auction ↗

Clerk of court

Clinton County Clerk / Register of Deeds ↗

Property appraiser

Clinton County Equalization / parcel data ↗

GIS / parcel map

Clinton County GIS / equalization mapping resources ↗

Areas trending up

Directional read from dated market analysis — not a guarantee, and not a substitute for your own comps.

St. Johns / county-seat core

Local government employment and US-27 retail with steadier SF absorption than pure rural townships

DeWitt / Lansing north fringe

State-capital commute and school-driven demand with relative value versus core Ingham pricing

Bath / East Lansing edge

MSU-adjacent workforce and student-adjacent rental demand with constrained buildable lots