Tax / Deed Certification

Per Michigan Compiled Law (MCL) – MCL 211.135, The County Treasurer’s office provides tax certification on documents such as deed, property tax splits or land contracts that convey ownership of property. A tax certificate confirms that all taxes on a property have been paid in full for the past 5 years. The following is the procedure our office follows to complete this process:

Deeds 

Each deed should have a parcel number that corresponds to the legal description contained in the deed.

  • Our Office will compare the deed’s legal description with the legal description on file in the County Equalization Department’s electronic records.
  • If a legal description on the deed does not match the County’s legal description, the deed will not be certified without approval of the legal description by the Equalization Department or the local assessor.
  • The legal description on file with the Equalization Department is available online using the online property/parcel lookup service.
  • Upon verification of the parcel number and legal description, our office will certify that there are no delinquent taxes or current taxes collected by this office owing for the parcel number(s) described on the deed.
  • If the parcel on the deed is the result of a combination of parcels or a division of a parcel(s), we will verify the taxes are paid on the “parent” [parcel as well.

Land Division Tax Payment Certificate

Effective September 15th, 2019 Public Act (PA) – PA23 of 2019: requires the County Treasurer to certify taxes are paid on any parcel proposing a property split. If you would like to split your parcel located in Lenawee County please follow the steps below:

  1. Contact your City or Township Assessor to determine if a split is allowable.
  2. Fill out a Land Split Certification Form. The form is also available in our office.  The parcel number and legal description prior to the split is required.
  3. Bring the Land Split Certification Form and $5.00 payment to the Lenawee County Treasurer’s Office.
  4. If taxes are paid to date; the certification will be approved. If taxes are delinquent or due to this office; the certification will be denied. $5.00 payment is collected if certification is denied or approved.
  5. Take the Land Division Certification to your assessor to continue processing your split.