Legislative Analysis
FAILURE TO RECORD TRANSFER OF PROPERTY OWNERSHIP Phone: (517) 373-8080
http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
Senate Bill 175 as enrolled Analysis available at
Sponsor: Sen. Sylvia A. Santana http://www.legislature.mi.gov
House Committee: Tax Policy
Senate Committee: Finance, Insurance, and Consumer Protection
Complete to 6-28-24
(Enacted as Public Act 97 of 2024)
SUMMARY:
Senate Bill 175 would amend the General Property Tax Act to increase the fines for certain
individuals that fail to file a transfer of property ownership with the local assessing officer.
Currently, the act requires a buyer, grantee, or other transferee in the transfer of ownership of
a property to notify the local assessing officer of the transfer within 45 days and prescribes
certain penalties for failing to do so. Among these is a penalty of $5 per day, up to a maximum
of $200, for a failure to notify the assessor of a transfer of property other than industrial or
commercial real property.
Under the bill, this maximum fine would be increased to $4,000, except if the property is owned
and occupied as a principal residence. For principal residences, the maximum fine would
remain $200.
Penalties as a lien
The bill would also provide that the penalties levied for a failure to record a transfer of
ownership would be a lien against the property if it is still owned by the person that failed to
notify the assessing officer of the transfer. If the property were subsequently transferred to a
person that did properly notify the assessing officer, the penalties would be levied as a personal
liability on the person that failed to record the previous transfer, rather than against the
property. In these cases, the penalties would be collected and distributed in the same manner
as penalties levied against a property.
The bill would also allow the governing body of the local tax collecting unit to waive the
penalties in excess of the additional taxes or interest and penalties assessed on those taxes by
resolution if penalties are levied against the personal liability of the person.
If the amounts are treated as a personal liability, the state treasurer or their authorized
representative would have to serve as the collection agent upon request of the local treasurer.
In such cases, the state would retain up to 20% of any amounts recovered as its collection fee
and distribute the remaining recovered amounts to the treasurer of the local tax collecting unit
to be distributed as required by the act. The collections would be administered as described in
section 25 of 1941 PA 122. 1
MCL 211.27b
1
https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=MCL-205-25
House Fiscal Agency Page 1 of 2
BRIEF DISCUSSION:
According to House committee testimony, the bill is intended to address the issue of flippers
or speculators buying a property and selling it to another person without recording the initial
transfer in order to avoid paying the uncapped property taxes. 2 This can leave the new owners
of the property liable for large unpaid property tax bills and a lien against their property.
Some raised concerns in House committee that county treasurers would be responsible for
collecting the penalties that are levied as a personal liability under the bill, arguing that it was
something they do not have adequate tools to accomplish effectively. An H-2 substitute
adopted on the House floor added the provisions described above that require the state treasurer
to serve as the collection agent upon request.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The bill likely would increase local revenues from penalties by an unknown amount that would
vary by local jurisdiction. In situations where the liability was deemed a personal liability, the
Department of Treasury would realize increased costs for collection duties, but those costs
presumably would be offset by the department’s ability to capture 20% of any amount
collected.
Legislative Analyst: Alex Stegbauer
Fiscal Analyst: Ben Gielczyk
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency staff for use by House members in their
deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.
2
For more information about uncapping property taxes: https://www.michigan.gov/taxes/property/change-ownership
House Fiscal Agency SB 175 as enrolled Page 2 of 2


Statutes affected:
Substitute (S-1): 211.27
Substitute (H-1): 211.27
Substitute (H-2): 211.27
Senate Introduced Bill: 211.27
As Passed by the Senate: 211.27
As Passed by the House: 211.27
Senate Concurred Bill: 211.27
Public Act: 211.27
Senate Enrolled Bill: 211.27