Michigan Landlord-Tenant Law for DIY Landlords (2026)

Security deposits, the 7-day demand, notice periods and the eviction timeline in Michigan, in plain English for landlords who manage their own rentals.

Last updated September 23, 2026

Michigan's deposit rules are older than most states' and stricter than most landlords expect. The Security Deposit Act runs on short clocks (14 days, 7 days, 30 days, 45 days) and the penalty for blowing one of them is double the deposit.

Here is what a small landlord in Michigan has to get right, with the code section behind each rule.

Security deposits

The cap is one and a half months' rent. A deposit cannot exceed 1 1/2 months' rent (MCL 554.602).

Tell the tenant where the money sits, within 14 days of move-in. Give written notice with your name and the address where notices go to you, plus the name and address of the bank or surety holding the deposit. That notice carries a 12 point boldface statement telling the tenant to send you a forwarding address within 4 days of moving out (MCL 554.603).

Keep it at a regulated financial institution. The money stays the tenant's property until you are legally entitled to it. You may spend deposit money only if you post a cash or surety bond with the Secretary of State covering the full amount up to $50,000, plus 25 percent of anything over that (MCL 554.604, MCL 554.605).

Hand over two blank inventory checklists at move-in. They have to list everything you own in the unit, down to carpeting, appliances, paint and fixtures. The tenant gets 7 days to fill one out and return it. You fill out a matching termination checklist when they leave (MCL 554.608).

You have 30 days from the end of occupancy to mail an itemized list. The list names each damaged item and the estimated cost of repair, and it goes out with a check or money order for whatever is left of the deposit. The notice needs a 12 point boldface warning that the tenant has 7 days to reply or lose the right to dispute (MCL 554.609, MCL 554.612).

Miss the 30 days and you owe all of it back. Silence counts as an admission that there was no damage (MCL 554.610).

Deductions are narrow. Actual damage from conduct outside the normal course of living there, rent in arrears, rent lost to an early tenant termination, and unpaid utility bills. Nothing else (MCL 554.607).

If the tenant disputes your list, sue within 45 days. You have 45 days after the end of occupancy to file for a money judgment, and not a day longer. Keep deposit money without a judgment, a written agreement from the tenant, or a clear rent arrearage, and you waive every damage claim and owe double the amount you held back (MCL 554.613).

One escape hatch. If the tenant never sends a forwarding address within 4 days of moving out, you are off the hook for the itemized list. The tenant can still come after the deposit itself (MCL 554.611).

You cannot write around any of this. A lease clause waiving the Act is void (MCL 554.606).

Late fees and grace periods

Michigan sets no late fee cap and no statutory grace period. Put the fee in the lease and keep it tied to what late rent actually costs you.

Two limits worth knowing. The Truth in Renting Act voids lease clauses that charge a tenant legal costs or attorney fees beyond what a statute allows, and it voids acceleration clauses that do not tell the tenant they can ask a court to set actual damages (MCL 554.633). And a 7-day nonpayment demand covers rent due, not accelerated rent (MCL 600.5714).

Rent increases and rent control

No Michigan city, village, township or county can control rent on private residential property. State law has blocked it since July 5, 1988 (MCL 123.411).

No statute caps an increase either. On a fixed term lease, you raise rent at renewal. On a month-to-month, a rent change takes the same one month's notice used to end the tenancy (MCL 554.134). You cannot change a written lease on your own mid-term without the tenant's written consent, outside narrow exceptions for tax and utility pass-throughs on 30 days' notice and for health and safety changes (MCL 554.633).

Source of income, new in 2025

2024 PA 178 added a source of income rule, dated April 2, 2025 by the code sources this guide could reach, the state's own site having been unavailable. Confirm the current text before relying on it. You cannot deny, end or price a tenancy differently over where a tenant's money comes from, and you cannot leave a voucher or subsidy out when you apply an income threshold. Landlords with fewer than 5 rental units in Michigan are exempt (MCL 554.601c).

Entering the unit

Michigan's landlord-tenant statutes set no notice period for entry. Write one into your lease. A 24-hour written notice for non-emergencies is clean and keeps tenants on your side.

What you cannot do is use entry as leverage. Changing locks, boarding the place up, removing doors or cutting heat, water, gas or electricity to push someone out is unlawful interference with possession. The tenant recovers three times actual damages or $200, whichever is greater (MCL 600.2918).

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

One month's written notice from either side. If rent runs on a shorter interval than quarterly, the notice period may match that interval instead (MCL 554.134).

When rent isn't paid

Serve a written 7-day demand for possession. Pay inside those 7 days and the default is cured (MCL 554.134, MCL 600.5714).

Other grounds run on their own clocks. Serious health hazard or extensive damage to the unit gets a 7-day demand to fix it. A threat of physical injury to another tenant or to you gets 7 days. Illegal drug activity backed by a filed police report gets 24 hours (MCL 600.5714).

The eviction timeline

Serve the notice and keep proof of how and when.
File a complaint in the district court for the area where the property sits.
Summons. In a standard tenancy case the hearing falls within 10 days of the summons issue date, with service at least 3 days ahead. Some courts run a local rule setting the appearance 5 days after service (MCL 600.5735).
Hearing. It happens within 7 days of the tenant's appearance or the trial date, with adjournments past that limited (MCL 600.5735).
Writ of restitution. After a judgment for possession, no writ issues for 10 days. Pay the judgment and costs inside that window and no writ issues at all in a nonpayment case. Health hazard and damage cases can get an immediate writ (MCL 600.5744).
A court officer carries out the writ. You do not.

Watch the retaliation rule. If the tenant complained to a housing authority, tried to enforce a lease or statutory right, or joined a tenant organization within 90 days before you filed, the court presumes retaliation and you carry the burden of showing otherwise (MCL 600.5720).

Repairs and habitability

Every Michigan residential lease carries a covenant that the unit and the common areas are fit for the use intended, that you keep the place in reasonable repair for the term, and that you comply with health and safety laws. Damage the tenant causes through willful or irresponsible conduct is on them. These duties can be modified only in a lease running a year or more, and courts read the section broadly (MCL 554.139). A waiver clause in the lease is void under the Truth in Renting Act (MCL 554.633).

Your city may add rental registration or a certificate of compliance on top of all this. Check with the local code office before you advertise.

The short version

Deposit cap of 1 1/2 months' rent
Written notice of where the deposit sits within 14 days of move-in
Two blank inventory checklists at move-in, tenant returns one in 7 days
Itemized list of damages plus the balance mailed within 30 days of move-out
File suit within 45 days to keep disputed money, or owe double
One month's notice to end a month-to-month
A 7-day written demand before a nonpayment filing
Writ of restitution 10 days after judgment

Let Taz handle the paperwork

Taz is an AI property manager for landlords who would rather not live in the code books. It tracks the 14-day, 30-day and 45-day deposit clocks, sends rent reminders, takes maintenance requests day and night, and keeps the records a Michigan district judge would ask for. See how Taz works.

Where this guide says a state has no rule on something, that means we found no statute setting one, which is not the same as none existing. Local ordinances and court practice can add requirements. Confirm anything you plan to rely on.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and your city or county may add rules. Talk to a Michigan attorney before acting on a specific situation. Last checked September 2026.