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84 MICHIGAN Orlans Associates Chosen as Michigan Leaders Linda Orlans, Founder and Executive Chair of Orlans Associates, Orlans Moran, and Atlantic Law Group, has been appointed by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to the board of trustees for the State of Michigan Building Authority. Linda will be one of five trustees overseeing the State Building Author- ity, which issues and sells bonds and notes to acquire equipment and construct facilities for the use of the State of Michigan, including public universities and community colleges. In addition to her new role with the State Building Authority, Linda currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees at Michigan State University College of Law. Linda is the first woman to hold this position. She gradu- ated from Michigan State University College of Law in 1987, and in 2009 she was awarded the Honorable George N. Bashara, Jr. Distin- guished Alumni Award in recognition of her significant service to e College, e Profes- sion and e Community. Orlans Associates' Chief Legal Officer Bri- an Henry is serving as the Chairperson of the Real Property Law Section for the State Bar of Michigan. is section counts more than 2,500 Michigan attorneys among its ranks and spon- sors educational, philanthropic and social programs focused on real estate. Both the Michigan Supreme Court and the Michigan Legislature rely upon the Real Property Law Section to provide commentary and counsel on various real estate issues. Brian has been a member of the Real Property Section for more than 25 years, serv- ing as both a lecturer and as a member of the Real Property Council. He previously served as Chair of the Real Property Law Section Continuing Education Committee, and was unanimously elected as Chairperson at the An- nual Meeting in July, 2015 to a one-year term. In the community, Brian has served as the Chairman of the Birmingham Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce, as a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals for Bloomfield Township and as the President of Leader- ship Oakland. He taught Business Law at the University of Phoenix-Michigan Campus for 10 years. Orlans Associates, P.C., Orlans Moran, PLLC, and Atlantic Law Group, LLC are mortgagee does not initially bid the amount owed on the loan. Foreclosure sales, both judicial and non- judicial, in Michigan are conducted by the Sheriff 's Department of the county in which the property is located. Currently, the Sheriff 's Departments across the state of Michigan all have the same procedure when it comes to releasing sale proceeds to the foreclos- ing mortgagee. In the event of a third-party purchase, where the winning bid is above the initial bid of the foreclosing mortgagee, the Sheriff 's Departments only release the amount of the foreclosing mortgagee's initial bid, without taking into consideration the amount due on the loan. Of course, the question arises: How could the Sheriff 's Department know the amount owed on the loan? Each county's Sheriff 's Department is privy to the Notice of Sale, which contains the amount due on the loan at the time of said notice, as well as the Foreclosure Sale Packet, both of which are provided to the Sheriff 's Department in advance of the sale. . eoretically, the entirety of the sale proceeds, up to the amount owed on the loan, should be released to the foreclos- ing mortgagee at the sale. is topic has been broached with some Sheriff 's Departments, but understandably, with the lack of statutory guidance, the common response is that the way things have been done in the past is the way they will continue. So, the question then becomes, what rem- edy do foreclosing mortgagees have when the proceeds from a foreclosure sale do not satisfy the amount owed on the loan, and the Sheriff 's Department is holding additional proceeds from the sale? As stated before, the Legisla- ture has addressed the procedure for claiming surplus funds existing following a foreclosure sale, providing that "…after the sale of real estate…any surplus money after satisfying the mortgage on which the real estate was sold, and payment of the costs and expenses of the foreclosure sale, the surplus shall be paid over by the officer or other person on demand to the mortgagor, his legal representatives or assigns" See MCL §600.3252. Further pursu- ant to MCL §600.3252, any person claiming priority to the funds, other than the borrower, or anyone claiming under the borrower, may make a claim to the Sheriff 's Department, which must then transfer the funds to the Circuit Court for determination as to the va- lidity of the claim. Once the funds have been transferred to the Circuit Court, the claimant has the opportunity to plead its entitlement to the remaining foreclosure proceeds. Typically, the Circuit Court actions are considered In Re actions as they pertain to proceeds claimed preeminent firms in the default legal services arena, serving banks, credit unions, consumer loan servicers, investors, government agen- cies, landlords, municipalities, title insurance companies and private individuals. Where Does the Money Go? Maybe We Should Ask the Michigan Legislature. By Mary Atallah In Michigan, foreclosure is not only a contractual right, but a statutory right as well. Michigan is primarily a foreclosure by advertisement state; however, foreclosure may proceed through the court system as well. is is referred to a judicial foreclosure. e State's Legislature has enacted statutes that regulate almost every part of a foreclosure by advertise- ment, from publication and posting require- ments, requirements for the sale itself, and also post-sale rights. e one area of a foreclosure by advertisement in which the Legislature has been silent is with respect to how the proceeds of the foreclosure sale are to be distributed. e judicial foreclosure statutes address this topic in MCL §600.3135, stating that the proceeds of every judicial sale shall "be applied to the discharge of the debt adjudged by the court to be due and of the costs awarded." e foreclosure by advertisement statute addresses surplus proceeds in MCL §600.3252 by ad- dressing money remaining "after satisfying the mortgage on which the real estate was sold." However, the Legislature has been silent on the initial distributions of proceeds from a foreclosure sale in a standard foreclosure by advertisement. e initial distribution of foreclosure by advertisement proceeds is a relatively new issue in Michigan. Generally, the foreclosing mortgagee makes the initial bid at the actual foreclosure sale. e typical practice in the past was that the foreclosing mortgagee would place an initial bid for the total amount of the debt owed under the mortgage and underlying note. Recently, however, mortgage servicers and lenders have been venturing into the realm of obtaining property values and basing their initial bids on the fair market value of the property, as opposed to the amount owed on the loan. is has opened up a new market for third-party bidders to purchase proper- ties at foreclosure sales. It has also uncovered the question of how foreclosure sale proceeds should be distributed when the foreclosing

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