If you’re behind on property taxes anywhere in Genesee County — Flint, Burton, Grand Blanc, or elsewhere — the process is administered by the Genesee County Treasurer’s Office under Michigan’s General Property Tax Act. This guide covers exactly how that plays out locally, including where to check your parcel’s status and what your realistic options are. If selling turns out to be the right move, Genesee County Home Buyers can give you a fair, no-obligation cash offer at any point in the process.

How Genesee County Handles Delinquent Taxes

Winter property tax bills in Genesee County are due by February 28 each year; anything unpaid after March 1 becomes delinquent and is forwarded to the Genesee County Treasurer’s Office for collection, with a 4% administration fee and 1% monthly interest added immediately. If the delinquency isn’t resolved within a year, the property enters forfeiture — at which point the interest rate jumps to 1.5% per month (retroactive to the original delinquency date) and a $175 forfeiture fee is added.

Where to Check Your Parcel’s Status

Genesee County maintains an online delinquent tax lookup tool where you can search by parcel number to see your exact balance owed, and the treasurer’s office FAQ page answers many of the most common questions homeowners have about the process, including payment methods and accepted forms of payment once a delinquency reaches the January-December window versus after.

What Happens if the Property Reaches Foreclosure

Once a property has been in forfeiture for about a year without being redeemed, the county treasurer files a foreclosure petition in circuit court. Genesee County holds show-cause hearings where owners can appear and object before a judge signs the foreclosure judgment — after that, owners have until March 31 to pay everything owed, in full, or lose the property permanently. There is no partial payment plan that stops foreclosure once the judgment is entered; it’s full payment or the property transfers.

Genesee County’s Auction Process

Properties that go through final foreclosure are sold at auction — Genesee County runs these online, typically with a minimum-bid sale in early fall followed by a no-reserve sale for anything unsold. If your property (or one you previously owned) was sold at auction for more than what was owed, note that Michigan law now requires counties to return that surplus to the former owner following the Rafaeli v Oakland County Michigan Supreme Court decision — see our broader guide on what happens if you don’t pay property taxes in Michigan for how that claim process works.

What You Can Still Do at Each Stage

“The single most useful thing a homeowner can do is call the treasurer’s office directly and get the exact number. Estimating or guessing at what’s owed almost always leads to bad decisions.”
— Genesee County Home Buyers

Selling as a Way Out

A direct cash sale is one of the few options that works at nearly any stage of this timeline, since it doesn’t depend on qualifying for a payment plan or coming up with a lump sum yourself — the back taxes are simply settled from the proceeds at closing. Our guide on selling a house with back taxes owed in Michigan covers exactly how this works, step by step.

How This Compares to Mortgage Foreclosure

It’s worth remembering that property tax foreclosure runs entirely separately from mortgage foreclosure. You can be currently on your mortgage and still lose your home to tax foreclosure, or facing mortgage foreclosure while current on taxes. If you’re dealing with the mortgage side specifically, our guide on avoiding foreclosure in Flint, MI covers that separate process.

Frequently Asked Questions