Flummerfelt v. City of Taylor

• Decision Date: 20 October 2022
• Docket Number: 22-10067
• Parties: JUDY FLUMMERFELT, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CITY OF TAYLOR, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

JUDY FLUMMERFELT, et al., Plaintiffs,
v.
CITY OF TAYLOR, et al., Defendants.

No. 22-10067

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division

October 20, 2022

Judith E. Levy, United States District Judge.

ORDER FOR SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEFING

Curtis Ivy, Jr. United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, sued the City of Taylor and city officials, a few realty companies and their owners, and the Wayne County Treasurer for claims associated with the tax foreclosures on their homes. Among the claims raised in the complaint are that defendants Wayne County and City of Taylor effected an improper taking without just compensation and an inverse condemnation claim for allegedly taking their property interests in the form of surplus value or equity and appropriating this property for public use without just compensation. (ECF No. 1, Counts I and II).

The defendants who appeared here have moved to the dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). (ECF Nos. 29, 46, 48, 66). Among the arguments raised in each motion is that the plaintiffs do not have property rights in the equity of their tax-foreclosed homes. Each defendant cited the District Court opinion in Hall v. Meisner, 565 F.Supp.3d 953 (2021), in

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support of their position. (ECF No. 29, PageID.191-92; ECF No. 46, PageID.324, n. 7; ECF No. 48, PageID.371-72; ECF No. 66, PageID.615-16). They each contend that this case is much like Hall, and the Court should rule as it did there.

On October 13, 2022, the Sixth Circuit issued two opinions on appeal from the Hall cases-Hall v. Meisner, -- F.4th -, 2022 WL 7366694 (6th Cir. Oct. 13, 2022) and Hall v. Meisner, __ F.4th __, 2022 WL 7478163 (6th Cir. Oct. 13, 2022)-reversing the District Court in the first cited case and affirming in the second. These opinions were released after the motions to dismiss were filed; Plaintiffs addressed the Sixth Circuit's ruling in response to the last-filed...