Many investors troll tax auctions conducted by city, county, state or federal taxing authorities. Because the properties are often distressed or abandoned, the amounts bid typically remain modest. But, the successful bidder gets only a “tax deed,” or whatever that might be called in each state’s practice. Tax deeds are generally enforceable but unlike warranty deeds which can be all but unsaleable and insured, tax deeds can be set aside in a few cases. Buying a church property at tax auction, therefore, may or may not be “final.”

In Spiritlove Ministries v Blessed Peace Church, Slip Op. (Mich. App. 2018), the church property was abandoned by a predecessor owner that was a denominational church. The denomination declared the church property abandoned pursuant to the denominational governance documents and the reversionary clause in the title. The denomination sold the property to the Plaintiff and delivered a quit claim deed. Almost simultaneously, the Defendant discovered the church property and bought it from the taxing authority acquiring a tax deed (or whatever it might be called in Michigan). The Defendant moved onto the property. The Plaintiff church discovered this and asserted its rights and reached an accord with the Defendant church that the Defendant would vacate the property by a date certain. The Defendant acquired a quitclaim deed from the predecessor owner church that had abandoned the property in the first place and reasserted ownership of the property. The Plaintiff sought and obtained from the trial court by summary judgment a quieted title. The court concluded that under the Ecclesiastical Exception Doctrine, the court could not review the denominational decision to declare the property abandoned or the sale of the property to the Plaintiff, making it the enforceable transaction.

Denominational governance documents and reversionary clauses in church property titles remain enforceable. In obtaining a church property by purchase, or in any other way including by gift, these documents must be inspected. Claims the documents are lost or unavailable should not be relied upon. Usually, the documents are in the public record or someone’s attic, because they always seem to turn up. While a tax auction can be a wonderful investment, certain caution must accompany the investment. If due diligence prior to the purchase cannot be completed it should be immediately after. Easy sounding solutions to title problems rarely are either, easy or solutions.

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