Bill Text: MI HB5846 | 2009-2010 | 95th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Property tax; principal residence exemption; eligibility to claim exemption on certain homes in foreclosure; clarify. Amends sec. 7dd of 1893 PA 206 (MCL 211.7dd).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 14-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-23 - Printed Bill Filed 02/19/2010 [HB5846 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2009-HB5846-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 5846
February 18, 2010, Introduced by Reps. Stamas, Moss, Denby, Bolger, Lund, Daley, Rick Jones, McMillin, Moore, Walsh, Booher, Horn, Crawford and Caul and referred to the Committee on Tax Policy.
A bill to amend 1893 PA 206, entitled
"The general property tax act,"
by amending section 7dd (MCL 211.7dd), as amended by 2008 PA 243.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 7dd. As used in sections 7cc and 7ee:
(a) "Owner" means any of the following:
(i) A person who owns property or who is purchasing property
under a land contract.
(ii) A person who is a partial owner of property.
(iii) A person who owns property as a result of being a
beneficiary of a will or trust or as a result of intestate
succession.
(iv) A person who owns or is purchasing a dwelling on leased
land.
(v) A person holding a life lease in property previously sold
or transferred to another.
(vi) A grantor who has placed the property in a revocable trust
or a qualified personal residence trust.
(vii) The sole present beneficiary of a trust if the trust
purchased or acquired the property as a principal residence for the
sole present beneficiary of the trust, and the sole present
beneficiary of the trust is totally and permanently disabled. As
used in this subparagraph, "totally and permanently disabled" means
disability as defined in section 216 of title II of the social
security act, 42 USC 416, without regard as to whether the sole
present beneficiary of the trust has reached the age of retirement.
(viii) A cooperative housing corporation.
(ix) A facility registered under the living care disclosure
act, 1976 PA 440, MCL 554.801 to 554.844.
(x) A bank, credit union, or other lending institution that
owns property as a result of having foreclosed a mortgage on that
property for 3 years beginning on the December 31 of the year of
the foreclosure or until there is a transfer of ownership,
whichever occurs first.
(xi) A land contract vendor that owns property as a result of
having foreclosed a land contract on that property for 3 years
beginning on the December 31 of the year of the foreclosure or
until there is a transfer of ownership, whichever occurs first.
(b) "Person", for purposes of defining owner as used in
section 7cc, means an individual and for purposes of defining owner
as used in section 7ee means an individual, partnership,
corporation, limited liability company, association, or other legal
entity.
(c) "Principal residence" means the 1 place where an owner of
the property has his or her true, fixed, and permanent home to
which, whenever absent, he or she intends to return and that shall
continue as a principal residence until another principal residence
is established. Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision,
principal residence includes only that portion of a dwelling or
unit in a multiple-unit dwelling that is subject to ad valorem
taxes and that is owned and occupied by an owner of the dwelling or
unit. Principal residence also includes all of an owner's
unoccupied property classified as residential that is adjoining or
contiguous to the dwelling subject to ad valorem taxes and that is
owned and occupied by the owner. Contiguity is not broken by a
road, a right-of-way, or property purchased or taken under
condemnation proceedings by a public utility for power transmission
lines if the 2 parcels separated by the purchased or condemned
property were a single parcel prior to the sale or condemnation.
Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, principal
residence also includes any portion of a dwelling or unit of an
owner that is rented or leased to another person as a residence as
long as that portion of the dwelling or unit that is rented or
leased is less than 50% of the total square footage of living space
in that dwelling or unit. Principal residence also includes a life
care facility registered under the living care disclosure act, 1976
PA 440, MCL 554.801 to 554.844. Principal residence also includes
property owned by a cooperative housing corporation and occupied by
tenant stockholders. Property owned by a bank, credit union, or
other lending institution or a land contract vendor as a result of
a mortgage foreclosure or land contract foreclosure shall continue
to qualify as a principal residence while held by that bank, credit
union, or other lending institution or that land contract vendor if
that property qualified as a principal residence prior to
foreclosure for 3 years beginning on the December 31 of the year of
foreclosure or until there is a transfer of ownership, whichever
occurs first. Property that qualified as a principal residence
shall continue to qualify as a principal residence for 3 years
after all or any portion of the dwelling or unit included in or
constituting the principal residence is rented or leased to another
person as a residence if all of the following conditions are
satisfied:
(i) The owner of the dwelling or unit is absent while on active
duty in the armed forces of the United States.
(ii) The dwelling or unit would otherwise qualify as the
owner's principal residence.
(iii) Except as otherwise provided in this subparagraph, the
owner files an affidavit with the assessor of the local tax
collecting unit on or before May 1 attesting that it is his or her
intent to occupy the dwelling or unit as a principal residence upon
completion of active duty in the armed forces of the United States.
In 2008 only, the owner may file an affidavit under this
subparagraph on or before December 31. A copy of an affidavit filed
under this subparagraph shall be forwarded to the department of
treasury pursuant to a schedule prescribed by the department of
treasury.
(d) "Qualified agricultural property" means unoccupied
property and related buildings classified as agricultural, or other
unoccupied property and related buildings located on that property
devoted primarily to agricultural use as defined in section 36101
of the natural resources and environmental protection act, 1994 PA
451, MCL 324.36101. Related buildings include a residence occupied
by a person employed in or actively involved in the agricultural
use and who has not claimed a principal residence exemption on
other property. Property used for commercial storage, commercial
processing, commercial distribution, commercial marketing, or
commercial shipping operations or other commercial or industrial
purposes is not qualified agricultural property. A parcel of
property is devoted primarily to agricultural use only if more than
50% of the parcel's acreage is devoted to agricultural use. An
owner shall not receive an exemption for that portion of the total
state equalized valuation of the property that is used for a
commercial or industrial purpose or that is a residence that is not
a related building.
