WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a case in which a county foreclosed on a Michigan family's home and sold it at auction at a price far below market value to recoup $2,200 in taxes.
The case, Pung vs. Isabella County, asks the high court to expand its 2023 ruling that required a government to pay the debtor all the proceeds from a foreclosure sale, except the taxes.
In Pung v. Isabella County, lawyers for Michael Pung, who lost his house, argued that under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, the county should have given him the fair market value of the home minus the taxes.
Despite justices' clear sympathy for the homeowners, they seemed unwilling to risk making a ruling that would put the foreclosure system in jeopardy.
Associate Justice Elena Kagan expressed concern that if the government were forced to pay the fair-market value of a house minus the taxes, counties would no longer foreclose because it would be too costly to make up the difference between that value and whatever they receive via auction.
