If you cannot attend the hearing on the scheduled date, you must contact the Tribunal in writing to request an adjournment of the hearing. A request for adjournment is considered a motion and requires a $25.00 fee for the filing of the motion in the Small Claims Division. The fee is waived if you are appealing the valuation of your property in Small Claims and the property under appeal has received a principal residence exemption of at least 50% or more for the tax years under appeal. A Motion to Adjourn in the Entire Tribunal requires a $50.00 fee. Motions to Adjourn are not accepted by fax. Rather, motions must be filed by eFiling, hand delivery, or mail. The Tribunal's mailing address is P.O. Box 30232, Lansing, MI 48909, and eFiling feature is available.
You should inform the Tribunal as soon as you know that you cannot attend the hearing. If your request to adjourn the hearing date is received at least 21 days before the scheduled hearing, the Tribunal may grant the request if it finds that good cause exists for an adjournment. Further, the motion may not be granted. A motion is a request and merely submitting a request for adjournment does not automatically result in the granting of the request. If the motion is not granted or the Tribunal has not notified you that it has been granted, you are required to attend the hearing. If the motion is granted, the parties may be precluded from submitting any further documents.
In the Small Claims Division, you may also request that your case be "heard on the file" and determined on the evidence you already submitted. If you are unable to attend a hearing, you may submit a written request asking to have your case “heard on the file” based on the documents you have timely submitted. Such requests are routinely granted if received prior to the hearing. If the request is granted, the Tribunal will conduct the hearing to take the testimony of the opposing party and render a decision based on that testimony and the documents timely submitted by both parties. If a local unit of government submits a “hear on file” request, the request will not be granted unless property record cards for all tax years at issue have been submitted. If a request is not granted or the Tribunal has not notified you that it has been granted, you are required to attend the hearing.