Opinion ID: 845821
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Sterling Heights

Text: Like what occurred with its personal property statement filed with Bruce Township, Ford later learned that it double reported certain assets on its statement filed with the city of Sterling Heights. So Ford filed a petition with the MTT against Sterling Heights, seeking a refund under MCL 211.53a because a mutual mistake of fact occurred. In lieu of an answer, Sterling Heights moved for summary disposition under MCR 2.116(C)(8) and (10). Ford did not respond to Sterling Heights' motion. However, the MTT, for reasons virtually identical to those noted earlier in this opinion with regard to the Bruce Township petition, granted the Sterling Heights' motion to dismiss. For example, the MTT held that Ford did not properly invoke the MTT's subject-matter jurisdiction because Ford failed to protest the assessments to the Sterling Heights Board of Review. Moreover, the MTT likewise held that Ford's incorrect reporting on its personal property statement was not a mutual mistake of fact made by both Ford and Sterling Heights. Therefore, the MTT held that it also lacked subject-matter jurisdiction under MCL 211.53a. In a split, unpublished opinion per curiam, the Court of Appeals affirmed. Ford Motor Co. v. Sterling Hts., unpublished opinion per curiam of the Court of Appeals, issued October 5, 2004, 2004 WL 2238633 (Docket No. 246379). The Court of Appeals decision was issued on the same day and by the same panel, resulted in the same split, and employed virtually the same reasoning as in the decision in Bruce Twp., supra.