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No. 114794, 119142
| City of Detroit, |
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Ruben Acosta (313) 963-3873 |
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Plaintiff-Appellant,
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(Appellee in 119142)
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| Attorney General ex Rel |
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Thomas L. Casey
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| Michigan Department of |
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Robert P. Reichel (517) 373-7540 |
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Environmental Quality and
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Michigan Department of
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Natural Resources,
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Intervening Plaintiffs-Appellees,
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(Appellants in 119142)
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vs (Appeal from Ct of Appeals)
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(Wayne -- M. Battani)
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| Peter Adamo, Andiamo, Inc., |
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Todd M. Halbert (248) 356-6204
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| and 5900 Associates, L.L.C., |
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Defendants-Appellees.
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Click to view briefs in Adobe format:
Plaintiff-Appellant's Brief on Appeal>>
Intervening Plaintiffs-Appellants'
Brief on Appeal>>
Defendants-Appellees' Brief on Appeal>>
Background
This case concerns two parcels of abandoned industrial property in Detroit
that became the property of the State of Michigan when no one bid on
them at a tax sale. According to the City of Detroit, the two parcels
were former industrial sites contaminated with hazardous substances,
and the State began expending millions of dollars cleaning up the parcels
to make them environmentally safe. In 1996, defendant Peter Adamo obtained
quitclaim deeds to the two parcels from the former owners. Adamo allegedly
began illegal dumping on the properties. The City of Detroit brought
an action in Wayne Circuit Court against Peter Adamo, Andiamo, Inc.,
and 5900 Associates, L.L.C., to prevent the defendants from entering
onto and dumping onto the two parcels. The State of Michigan was allowed
to intervene in the suit. The defendants obtained the quitclaim deeds
after the tax sale, but before the state had given the notice required
by the redemption statute to all owners having an interest in each of
the parcels. Because the state had not yet sent notice, the period for
redeeming the property had not expired when Adamo obtained the quitclaim
deeds, the defendants argued. Accordingly, the defendants had a right
of redemption, they claimed. Wayne County Circuit Judge Marianne O.
Battani agreed and entered an order granting summary disposition to
the defendants. The Court of Appeals affirmed in a published decision.
The City of Detroit appeals. The City argues in part that legislation
that went into effect in 1999, and was made retroactive to 1976, defeats
the defendants' redemption claim. The Court of Appeals' ruling effectively
permits a property owner to ignore redemption notices and extend the
statutory redemption period because other property owners were not notified,
the City argues.
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