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Pung v. Isabella County, Michigan

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Supreme Court of the United States
Pung v. Isabella County, Michigan
Docket number: 25-95
Term: 2025
Court: United States Supreme Court
Important dates
Argument: February 25, 2026
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts • Clarence Thomas • Samuel Alito • Sonia Sotomayor • Elena Kagan • Neil Gorsuch • Brett Kavanaugh • Amy Coney Barrett • Ketanji Brown Jackson

Pung v. Isabella County, Michigan is a case scheduled for argument before the Supreme Court of the United States on February 25, 2026, during the court's October 2025-2026 term.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • The questions presented: "(1) Whether taking and selling a home to satisfy a debt to the government, and keeping the surplus value as a windfall, violates the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment when the compensation is based on the artificially depressed auction sale price rather than the property's fair market value?


    (2) Whether the forfeiture of real property worth far more than needed to satisfy a tax debt but sold for fraction of its real value constitutes an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment, particularly when the debt was never actually owed?"[1]

  • The outcome: The appeal is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.


    • The case came on a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. To review the lower court's opinion, click here.

    Background

    Case summary

    The following are the parties to this case:[2]

    • Petitioner: Michael Pung, Personal Representative of the Estate of Timothy Scott Pung
      • Legal counsel: Philip Lee Ellison
    • Respondent: Isabella County, Michigan
      • Legal counsel: Matthew T. Nelson

    The following summary of the case was published by Oyez, a free law project from Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, Justia, and the Chicago-Kent College of Law:[3]

    “

    This case involves a dispute over the foreclosure and sale of the Pung property in Isabella County, Michigan, following the death of its owner, Timothy Scott Pung, in 2004. The property had a Principal Residence Exemption (PRE) from local school taxes. In 2010, the township tax assessor, Patricia DePriest, retroactively denied the PRE for the years 2007-2009, asserting a new owner must file an affidavit. Although the Michigan Tax Tribunal overturned this decision in 2012, holding the PRE remained valid for the estate, DePriest subsequently revoked the PRE for the 2012 tax year based on the same unfiled-affidavit rationale. This denial created an unpaid tax bill of $2,241.93. The County Treasurer, Steven Pickens, initiated foreclosure proceedings for this delinquency. After a final judgment of foreclosure, the property sold at a public auction for $76,008. Isabella County and Pickens retained the entire $76,008 from the sale, refusing to return the surplus proceeds above the tax debt to Michael Pung, the estate's representative. Michael Pung sued, alleging this retention of the surplus violated the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause and the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause.

    The district court granted Pung summary judgment on the Takings Clause claim, ruling he was entitled to the surplus proceeds (the sale price minus the tax debt), but not to the greater loss in equity based on the property’s fair market value. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment on all claims, including the amount of compensation awarded. [4]

    		”

    To learn more about this case, see the following:

    Timeline

    The following timeline details key events in this case:

    • February 25, 2026: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument.
    • October 3, 2025: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
    • July 22, 2025: Michael Pung, the personal representative of the estate of Timothy Scott Pung, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
    • January 28, 2025: The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled the lower court was correct in its ruling dismissing in part and granting summary judgment in part the claims against Isabella County, Michigan.

    Questions presented

    The petitioner presented the following questions to the court:[1]

    Questions presented:
    “ (1) Whether taking and selling a home to satisfy a debt to the government, and keeping the surplus value as a windfall, violates the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment when the compensation is based on the artificially depressed auction sale price rather than the property's fair market value?


    (2) Whether the forfeiture of real property worth far more than needed to satisfy a tax debt but sold for fraction of its real value constitutes an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment, particularly when the debt was never actually owed?[4]

    		”

    Oral argument

    Audio

    Audio of the case will be posted here when it is made available.

    Transcript

    A transcript of the case will be posted here when it is made available.

    Outcome

    The case is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.

    October term 2025-2026

    See also: Supreme Court cases, October term 2025-2026

    The Supreme Court began hearing cases for the term on October 6, 2025. The court's yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions by mid-June.[5]


    See also

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Supreme Court of the United States, "25-95 PUNG V. ISABELLA COUNTY, MICHIGAN QP", October 3, 2025
    2. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Pung v. Isabella County, Michigan," accessed January 30, 2026
    3. ↑ Oyez, "Pung v. Isabella County, Michigan," accessed January 30, 2026
    4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    5. ↑ SupremeCourt.gov, "The Supreme Court at Work: The Term and Caseload," accessed January 24, 2022
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