WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 23, 2026) – NFIB is disappointed by today’s decision at the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Michael Pung v. Isabella County, Michigan. This case asked what amount the government owes a property owner after a tax foreclosure and sale of the owner’s property. NFIB joined several other organizations in filing an amicus brief supporting Mr. Pung’s fair market value theory—that the government must pay the difference between the property’s hypothetical fair market value and the amount of taxes owed. The Court rejected the fair market value theory and held that only the surplus proceeds from a sale are owed to the property owner.

“This decision will leave small business property owners vulnerable to receiving a less-than-fair amount of compensation for the true value of their property during tax foreclosures,” said Beth Milito, Executive Director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center. “By holding that only the surplus proceeds from the sale are owed to the property owner, the Court’s decision permits local governments to artificially depreciate the value of a property in order to force a quick sale, which benefits the government’s coffers but deprives the property owner of the property’s real value.”

To put the Court’s decision into perspective, consider a property with a fair market value of $100,000, $20,000 in property taxes owed, and a government quick-sale after foreclosure fetching $60,000. Today’s decision means that the government owes the property owner no more than $40,000. NFIB’s brief argued that the property owner is entitled to the full $80,000.

The NFIB Small Business Legal Center protects the rights of small business owners in the nation’s courts. NFIB is currently active in more than 40 cases in federal and state courts across the country and in the U.S. Supreme Court.