Pung v. Isabella County
609 U. S. ____ (2026) · 6/23/26
The proper baseline for measuring “just compensation” following a fairly conducted tax sale is the auction sale price, not the property’s hypothetical fair market value; Isabella County did not violate the Eighth Amendment Excessive Fines Clause by failing to compensate the taxpayer for his property’s fair market value.
Edition: slip opinion
Voices: Syllabus — prepared by the Reporter of Decisions · Justice Alito delivered the opinion of the Court. · Justice Sotomayor, with whom Justice Gorsuch and Justice Jackson join, concurring. · Justice Thomas, with whom Justice Gorsuch joins as to all but footnote 1, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.
The Pung family owed $2,241.93 in real-property taxes, so local tax authorities in Isabella County, Michigan, initiated foreclosure proceedings and sold the Pung home—which was assessed at $194,400 for tax purposes—for $76,008 at public auction. Michael Pung sued in Federal court, and the District Court granted Pung partial summary judgment on his Fifth Amendment claim. The court held that Pung should receive only the surplus proceeds from the tax sale—i.e., the difference between the sale price and the tax debt—not the property’s fair market value. The District Court also rejected Pung’s…
Held: 1. The proper baseline for measuring “just compensation” following a tax sale is the auction sale price, not the property’s hypothetical fair market value, at least when the sale is fairly conducted in light of the country’s history of tax sales. Pp. 4–11. (a) For hundreds of years, English and American law have allowed the seizure and sale of property as a tax-collection method, provided that the government return any surplus proceeds to the debtor. Federal statutes from the early days of the Republic applied this rule, as did this Court’s precedents. United States v. Taylor, 104 U. S.…Read it in the reading room ›