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THOMAS A. FOX, and all those similarly situated,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
SAGINAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN, et al.,
Defendants-Appellees,
ASSET RECOVERY, INC.,
Interested Party-Appellant. |
No. 21-1653 |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at Bay City.
No. 1:19-cv-11887—Thomas L. Ludington, District Judge.
Decided and Filed: June 1, 2022
Before: GIBBONS, McKEAGUE, and THAPAR, Circuit Judges.
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OPINION
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THAPAR, Circuit Judge. Thomas Fox and others like him failed to pay some of their
property taxes. So the counties they owed foreclosed on their property and sold it. But the
counties did not just keep the money owed; they kept all of the sale proceeds—sometimes tens of
thousands of dollars beyond the taxes due. None of it went back to the property owners.
Seeking to receive the rest of their money back, Fox filed this class action against the counties.
After learning about the property owners’ plight, Asset Recovery Inc. contacted potential
plaintiffs about pursuing relief on their behalf. Fox believed that ARI was improperly soliciting
class members, so he asked the district court to order ARI to (1) stop contacting class members
and (2) allow class members to back out of their agreements with ARI. The district court granted
Fox’s motion. ARI appeals that order. We affirm in part, vacate in part, and remand |
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