PER CURIAM.
In this action to set aside a sheriff's foreclosure sale, plaintiff appeals as of right the circuit court's order granting
On appeal, plaintiff asserts that the sheriff's deed on mortgage foreclosure (Sheriff's Deed) executed by Matthew J. Chodak fraudulently misrepresents that Chodak is a "deputy sheriff." According to plaintiff, Chodak is not a sheriff, an undersheriff, or a deputy sheriff, as required by the Michigan mortgage foreclosure statute, MCL 600.3216, because he did not request to be, and was not actually, properly appointed by Sheriff Michael J. Bouchard and no such appointment was filed with the Oakland County Clerk's office, as required by the statute governing the appointment of an undersheriff or a deputy sheriff, MCL 51.73. We disagree.
We review de novo a trial court's decision on a motion for summary disposition. Silberstein v. Pro-Golf of America, Inc., 278 Mich.App. 446, 457, 750 N.W.2d 615 (2008). Evidence must be examined "in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party." Id. "Summary disposition should be granted only where the evidence fails to establish a genuine issue regarding any material fact." Id. at 457-458, 750 N.W.2d 615.
The Michigan Supreme Court has held that statutory foreclosures will only be set aside if "very good reasons" exist for doing so. Markoff v. Tournier, 229 Mich. 571, 575, 201 N.W. 888 (1925). "`[I]t would require a strong case of fraud or irregularity, or some peculiar exigency, to warrant setting a foreclosure sale aside.'" Sweet Air Investment, Inc. v. Kenney, 275 Mich.App. 492, 497, 739 N.W.2d 656 (2007), quoting United States v. Garno, 974 F.Supp. 628, 633 (E.D.Mich., 1997). "Statutory foreclosures are a matter of contract, authorized by the mortgagor, and ought not to be hampered by an unreasonably strict construction of the law." White v. Burkhardt, 338 Mich. 235, 239, 60 N.W.2d 925 (1953).
Under MCL 600.3216, a sheriff's foreclosure sale "shall be made by the person appointed for that purpose in the mortgage, or by the sheriff, undersheriff, or a deputy sheriff of the county, to the highest bidder." Concerning appointment of deputy sheriffs by the sheriff, MCL 51.70 provides that
Similarly, concerning appointments, MCL 51.73 provides that
In this case, plaintiff argues that Chodak could not have lawfully conducted the foreclosure sale given that HE was not
While plaintiff is correct that Chodak was not properly appointed as a deputy sheriff under the requirements set forth in MCL 51.73, Chodak was properly deputized as a special deputy under MCL 51.70. In this case, there is a written instrument, i.e., the Agreement, that was signed by Sheriff Bouchard. According to the terms of the Agreement, "Civil Process" includes, but is not limited to, "selling lands on the foreclosure of a mortgage by advertisement; executing deeds and performing all related services required on sale of property. . . ." In this way, the Agreement prescribes the particular acts to be performed. Therefore, the Agreement constitutes the necessary written instrument for purposes of deputizing a special deputy. As a result, Chodak qualifies as a special deputy, and the provisions of MCL 51.73 requiring filing and recording of an appointment are inapplicable.
Plaintiff also argues that MCL 51.70 and MCL 51.73 require appointment by the sheriff of an individual, who can be monitored, and were not intended to allow the sheriff to appoint a corporation, which may delegate its duties to unaccountable third parties. Plaintiff notes that the Agreement is between Sheriff Bouchard and County Civil Process Services, Inc., of which Chodak is the president,
Additionally, plaintiff points out that the copy of the oath attached to defendants' brief on appeal has no liber or page number, thereby giving no indication that the oath was filed with the Oakland County Clerk's office as claimed by defendants. This argument is unpersuasive because MCL 51.70 does not require an oath to be recorded for deputization of a special deputy.
Defendants assert that Chodak is a special deputy charged with a specific task and that Chodak qualifies as a deputy sheriff when carrying out this task. We agree. MCL 51.70 allows for deputization of persons "to do particular acts." If such persons were without statutory authorization to carry out those acts, an absurd result would be reached: authority "to do particular acts" would be granted by MCL 51.70, but then revoked under MCL 600.3216 because of a technicality. In this case, the technicality would be that a person may be deputized as a special deputy to carry out particular acts under MCL 51.70, but would be unable to carry out those acts under MCL 600.3216 because a special deputy would not qualify as a deputy sheriff. Additionally, the Addendum expressly states that a special deputy has the powers of a deputy sheriff. Therefore, Chodak, performing his specifically assigned functions in his capacity as a special deputy, qualifies as a deputy sheriff. As a result, his acts of conducting the foreclosure sale and executing the Sheriff's Deed are valid under the foreclosure statute. For these reasons, plaintiff's argument that Chodak declared himself to be a deputy sheriff, not a special deputy, in his oath is without merit.
Under these circumstances, there is no genuine issue of material fact concerning whether Chodak was properly appointed pursuant to the Agreement or whether the foreclosure sale and Sheriff's Deed were valid. Therefore, plaintiff has failed to show the requisite "strong case of fraud or irregularity, or some peculiar exigency," to overturn the foreclosure sale. Sweet Air Investment, 275 Mich.App. at 497, 739 N.W.2d 656.
Affirmed.
TALBOT, P.J., and SAWYER and M.J. KELLY, JJ., concurred.