Why this reaches associations and not only investors

Three ways, and none of them is obvious from the caption.

First, it removes a settlement fund. Michigan associations litigating reversion have generally been suing whoever holds the paper interest in vanished units. Where that party's plan was to tender the claim to its title insurer, this decision closes the route. The counterparty is now uninsured, which changes what a case is worth and whether it settles.

Second, it makes disclosure the pivotal fact. What sank Triple Properties was not only the missed deadline; it was selling on without disclosing the competing claim. An association that has recorded an amendment reflecting reversion has put the claim on the record, and a subsequent seller's non-disclosure becomes very hard to characterise as innocent.

Third, it applies to associations too. An association is an insured under policies of its own, and “created, suffered, assumed, or agreed to” is standard language. A defect an association let happen through inaction — a lapsed filing, an unrecorded amendment, a lien allowed to expire — is not obviously insurable.

The companion case in state court

The same reversion produced litigation on the other side of the courthouse. PCJ Investments, LLC v Richard Rowhouses Association, No. 371319 (13 August 2026, unpublished), enforced a binding oral settlement against Triple Properties notwithstanding its later refusal to sign, and held the association was not required to record a deed reflecting the reversion. The association and PCJ were both awarded costs.²

That last point is quietly useful for boards. The reversion happens by operation of law. An association may record an amendment reflecting it — and in Woodfield Greens that is exactly what the winning association did — but a court will not order the association to execute a deed as though it were conveying something.

What it means for a Michigan board

• Know whether your project has unbuilt units and what they were designated. The single fact that decides all of this is on the condominium subdivision plan.
• If units have reverted, record the amendment. It converts the association's legal position into a recorded one, and it is what makes a later purchaser's ignorance implausible.
• Do not assume the other side is insured. After Triple Properties, a developer or investor defendant on a reversion claim may be paying out of its own pocket — which affects both the tone of the litigation and the realistic recovery.
• Read your own policies for the same exclusion. It is in almost all of them.

What to watch next

Senate Bill 272. It would make the 2016 “undeveloped land” definition retroactive, and if it becomes law the entire class of disputes that produced this decision changes shape for pre-2016 projects — including, potentially, for claims already in progress.