No larceny charges after fixtures taken from foreclosed home

WESTLAND (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court says a Detroit-area man can’t be charged with larceny for removing fixtures from his foreclosed home.

The court isn’t defending the practice. But it says Timothy March still had a right to the Westland property during a six-month period when he could have scraped up the money to keep it.

When the six-month period expired in 2013, new owner John Hamood found many things missing, including cabinets, furnace, doors and hot water tank. March was charged with larceny.

A judge dismissed the charges, but the appeals court reversed the decision. Now the Supreme Court has dismissed the charges again.

The court says there still might be other charges that fit. It also says Hamood could file a lawsuit.