A Michigan court called an association's own records “deceptive” and threw out its foreclosure
A Michigan court called an association's own records “deceptive” and threw out its foreclosure
2026-09-12 · Michigan · Courts
What happened. After a bench trial, a Michigan circuit court entered a judgment of no cause of action against a condominium association that had sued to collect roughly $35,000 in claimed arrears, finding the association's records “were not trustworthy” and its practices “deceptive,” and finding the co-owner credible. The Court of Appeals affirmed on 12 February 2025. Woodside Meadows Condominium Association v Parker, Nos. 364582 and 364583 (consolidated), Washtenaw Circuit Court — unpublished per curiam, panel of Borrello, P.J., Redford and Patel.1
The evidentiary holding, which is the transferable part
The association argued its ledgers were admissible as business records under MRE 803(6) and that the trial court was therefore obliged to accept them.
No. Admissibility and belief are different questions. Admitting a record as a business record does not compel the factfinder to accept its veracity. The association bore the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence, and it failed to carry it.
The facts
Two investment units in Ann Arbor. Management changed from Kramer-Triad to F&D in 2020. The association sued in 2021 claiming $15,416 on one unit and $20,164 on the other, with an arrearage said to run from 2012 onward.
A management transition in the middle of a nine-year ledger is, on this record, exactly where the trouble came from.
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