MI · Researched October 7, 2026
Michigan caps deposits at 1.5 months' rent and runs deposits on strict paperwork: a notice within 14 days of move-in, a move-in checklist, and an itemized damage list within 30 days of move-out. Nonpayment cases start with a 7-day demand for possession, and local rent control is banned. Since April 2025, landlords with five or more units cannot refuse tenants based on source of income.
Michigan's broker definition expressly includes leasing or renting property for others and engaging in property management for a fee. Property management means leasing or renting others' property for pay under a written property management employment contract between the broker and the owner.
Owners and lessors acting on their own property (unless done as a principal vocation outside a licensed broker); attorneys-in-fact under a recorded power of attorney; court-appointed persons; attorneys; receivers, trustees, administrators, and executors.
Property management money goes into property management accounts handled as the written property management employment contract describes; the sales escrow deposit rule excludes those accounts. Tenant deposits must also meet MCL 554.604.
The total security deposit for a unit may not exceed one and a half months' rent.
Mail an itemized list of damages within 30 days after move-out, with a check or money order for any balance and the required bold notice that the tenant must respond within 7 days. The tenant must give a written forwarding address within 4 days of moving out. To keep a disputed amount you must win a money judgment in a case filed within 45 days, unless the tenant gave no address, did not respond, agreed in writing, or the amount is only unpaid rent. Failing to comply waives the damage claim and can cost double the amount kept.
Keep deposits in a regulated financial institution. You may use deposit money only if you file a cash or surety bond with the Secretary of State covering all deposits up to $50,000 plus 25% of any amount above that. State law does not require you to pay interest to the tenant.
Michigan has no statute setting a late fee limit. Courts can refuse to enforce a fee that works as a penalty rather than a fair estimate of the landlord's costs.
Michigan has no statute limiting rental application or screening fees. A 2025 bill to cap them (Senate Bill 372) had not been confirmed as law when we checked. Screening must still follow fair housing rules, including source of income protections.
During a lease term, rent can change only as the lease allows or with the tenant's written consent. The Truth in Renting Act bars lease clauses that let a landlord change terms without consent, except that a lease may allow rent changes on at least 30 days' written notice to cover higher property taxes, utilities the landlord pays, or insurance premiums. For month-to-month tenancies, give at least one rental period of notice, the same as ending the tenancy.
Counties, cities, villages, and townships may not adopt or enforce rules that control the rent charged for private residential property. They may still offer voluntary incentives to add affordable units.
Serve a written demand for possession that gives the tenant 7 days to pay. If the tenant neither pays nor leaves, file summary proceedings in district court. Accelerated rent does not count as rent due for this demand. A month-to-month tenancy can also be ended for nonpayment by a 7-day notice to quit.
Illegal drug activity with a police report: 24-hour demand. Serious health hazard or extensive damage: 7 days to leave or fix it. Causing or threatening physical injury on the landlord's property with police notified: 7-day notice to quit. Other breaches: the lease must give you a right to terminate, and a month-to-month tenancy can be ended with a one-month notice to quit.
Either side can end a tenancy at will with one month's notice. If rent is due more often than every three months, notice equal to the time between rent payments is enough. A notice is not void just because its end date does not fall on a rent day.
After the 7-day demand runs out, file in district court. Under court rules in effect since May 1, 2024, the first hearing works as a pretrial where the court explains tenant rights, and nonpayment cases can be paused while a rental assistance application is pending. After a judgment for possession, the order of eviction generally cannot issue until 10 days have passed.
Removing or keeping a tenant's property, changing locks or cutting essential services without a court order is unlawful interference, with damages of at least $200 per occurrence. An owner may retake possession if, after diligent inquiry, it believes in good faith that the tenant has abandoned the premises, does not intend to return, and current rent is unpaid. Separate steps apply after a tenant's death. Property is usually removed when a court officer executes an order of eviction.
Michigan has no statute on landlord entry or advance notice. Write entry terms into the lease, give reasonable notice except in emergencies, and avoid entries that could be seen as harassment or an unlawful interference with possession.
Every residential lease includes promises that the unit and common areas are fit for their intended use, kept in reasonable repair, and compliant with state and local health and safety laws, unless the tenant caused the problem. These duties can be changed only in a lease with a current term of at least one year.
If you take a deposit, give the tenant within 14 days of move-in your name and address for notices, the name and address of the bank or bond surety, and the bold notice about the 4-day forwarding address rule. Give two blank move-in inventory checklists. Include the domestic violence release notice in the lease or post or deliver it, and include the Truth in Renting Act notice. Pre-1978 housing needs the federal lead disclosure.
The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act housing section covers religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, familial status and marital status, and a separate act covers disability. Since April 2, 2025, landlords with 5 or more rental units (counting related entities) may not discriminate based on source of income, and must count vouchers or subsidies when applying income minimums.
The Michigan Supreme Court amended MCR 4.201, adding pretrial procedures, tenant rights information, and pauses for pending rental assistance applications in nonpayment cases.
Landlords with five or more units may not refuse or treat applicants differently because of a lawful source of income, such as vouchers or benefits. Complaints go to the Michigan Department of Civil Rights.
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Compare with other states: security deposit limit, deposit return deadline, deposit interest and holding rules, late fees, application and screening fees, rent increase notice, rent control, notice for unpaid rent, notice for lease violations, ending a month-to-month, eviction timeline, abandoned property, landlord entry, repairs and habitability, required disclosures, state fair housing protections.