How to become a landlord in Michigan

Prepare the home, rental terms and required paperwork as one sequence. Check local property requirements, budget for vacancy and repairs, and have the lease notices, deposit records and inventory checklists ready before move-in (MCL 554.634).

• Compare similar homes by location, size, condition and included utilities. Budget from realistic rent receipts and the costs you will pay, including taxes, insurance, maintenance, turnover and vacancy. Keep a repair reserve. Check local rental registration, licensing, inspection and safety requirements for the address rather than assuming the state guide covers every local step (MCL 554.139(1)).
• Complete repairs and document the starting condition. If you require a deposit, prepare the two inventory checklist copies and explain the return procedure described in the condition topic. Record the date possession begins, track the deposit-notice deadline, and set up the required deposit holding arrangement. Keep the deposit file separate from ordinary operating records (MCL 554.608; MCL 554.604; MCL 554.601 to 554.616).See Move-in condition checklist on the Michigan page
• Prepare lawful criteria before advertising and screening, including the source-of-income and selected local protections described in this guide. Check the lease for the Truth in Renting notice, notice address and prohibited clauses, then confirm the home, parties, dates, rent, utilities, deposits and entry arrangements. Keep signed copies and delivery records (MCL 554.634).See Required disclosures on the Michigan page
• Explain payment methods, repair contacts and urgent-problem reporting at move-in. Keep a ledger and organize receipts, condition records, maintenance requests, completed work, notices and communications with appropriate access limits. Calendar lease events and notice deadlines. Review the facts yourself even when software organizes the workflow (MCL 554.139(1)).See Repairs and habitability on the Michigan page

A Michigan written lease must state, in a prominent place in type no smaller than 12 point, the Truth in Renting notice in substantially the statutory form, and must state the name and address where notices to you are to be given (MCL 554.634).

• If you require a security deposit, you must give the written deposit notice within 14 days after the tenant takes possession, including its fixed forwarding address statement in 12 point bold type at least 4 points larger than the body (MCL 554.603).See Landlord name and address on the Michigan page
• Each move-in checklist must open with the statutory notice in 12 point bold type (MCL 554.608(4)).See Move-in condition checklist on the Michigan page
• If the lease does not include the statutory domestic violence statement, you must post it in your management office or hand it to the tenant at signing (MCL 554.601b(1)).
• If you do not cure a missing required statement by written notice within 20 days after the tenant points it out, the tenant may sue and recover $500 or actual damages, whichever is greater. If you knew the statement was missing when the lease was signed, the tenant may sue without first giving notice, and the winner recovers court costs and statutory attorney fees (MCL 554.636(2) to (4)).
• The Michigan Judicial Institute explains that leases longer than one year generally need to be reflected in writing; a sufficient signed note or memorandum may qualify. Use a complete written agreement so the rented space, term and payment obligations are clear (Michigan Judicial Institute: lease provisions).
• As a practical signing check, reconcile the rental address, parties, term, rent, utility responsibilities and attachments before signing. Keep the final agreed version and later amendments together so everyone can identify the terms that apply. This organizational checklist supplements the required notices above (Michigan Judicial Institute: lease provisions).

Your lease must state the name and address where notices to you are to be given. Your deposit notice must also give your name and address for communications about the deposit, and the name and address of the financial institution or surety holding it (MCL 554.634(1); MCL 554.603).

• If the deposit notice leaves out this information, the tenant is relieved of the duty to give you a forwarding address (MCL 554.603).
• The tenant mails a response to a notice of damages to the address you gave in the deposit notice (MCL 554.612).

None of the Michigan landlord-tenant statutes read for this page requires a flood disclosure in a lease. Other Michigan law was not searched, so this page does not say none exists (MCL 554.601 to 554.616; MCL 554.631 to 554.641).

• The statements the Truth in Renting Act requires in a lease are the notice and the landlord's notice address; neither concerns flooding (MCL 554.634).See Required disclosures on the Michigan page

The landlord-tenant statutes read for this page do not address smoke or carbon monoxide alarms. The Housing Law of Michigan and local housing codes may, and were not read for this page (MCL 554.601 to 554.616; MCL 554.631 to 554.641).

• The landlord must keep the home in compliance with state and local health and safety laws, which can include alarm rules (MCL 554.139(1)(b)).See Repairs and habitability on the Michigan page

The Michigan statutes read for this page set no rule on rekeying between tenants. Changing or adding locks without immediately giving the tenant keys is unlawful interference with possession (MCL 600.2918(2)(c)).

• Removing doors, windows or locks is also unlawful interference (MCL 600.2918(2)(e)).See Lockouts and utility shutoffs on the Michigan page

A Michigan security deposit may not exceed one and a half months' rent. The cap covers every deposit the tenant pays, including a refundable pet deposit and any required prepaid rent beyond the first full rental period (MCL 554.602; MCL 554.601(d)).

• A security deposit includes any amount returnable to the tenant if the unit comes back in the condition the lease requires, and any rent charged for one period above the average rent for the term (MCL 554.601(d)).
• An amount paid for an option to purchase is not a deposit unless the arrangement was meant to evade the act (MCL 554.601(d)(i)).
• You may not require a deposit at all unless you give the tenant a written deposit notice within 14 days after the tenant takes possession (MCL 554.603).See Landlord name and address on the Michigan page
• A lease cannot waive any right the security deposit act gives the tenant, and a clause that tries is void (MCL 554.606; MCL 554.633(1)(b)).

You must place the security deposit in a regulated financial institution. You may use the deposited money for any purpose only if you file a cash bond or surety bond with the Secretary of State covering all deposits up to $50,000 plus 25 percent of any amount above that. The security deposit act sets no interest requirement (MCL 554.604; MCL 554.601 to 554.616).

• Until you establish a right to it, the deposit is legally the tenant's property (MCL 554.605).
• Your deposit notice must name the financial institution or surety holding the deposit, with its address (MCL 554.603).

If you require a security deposit, when the lease begins, you must give the tenant two blank copies of a move-in inventory checklist covering everything you own in the unit, from carpeting and appliances to walls, doors and fixtures. The tenant returns one completed copy within 7 days after getting possession, unless you both agree to a shorter time (MCL 554.608).

• Each checklist must start with a fixed notice in 12 point bold type at the top of the first page, which also tells the tenant they may ask for the last move-out checklist from the prior tenants (MCL 554.608(4)).
• At move-out you complete a termination checklist on the same form, listing every damage you claim the tenant caused (MCL 554.608(2), (5)).
• Damage already claimed on a move-out checklist before this tenant's occupancy cannot be charged again (MCL 554.609(2)).

The Michigan landlord-tenant statutes read for this page set no limit on application or screening fees. If you have 5 or more rental units in Michigan, you may not charge different fees or set different terms based on an applicant's lawful source of income (MCL 554.601c(1)(b); MCL 554.601 to 554.616).

• If you set a minimum income, a covered landlord must count a rent voucher or subsidy toward it. The threshold-counting provision excludes emergency rental assistance; the separate bar on discriminatory terms because of using that assistance still applies (MCL 554.601c(1)(f); MCL 37.2502(3)(e), (f)).See Fair housing on the Michigan page
• Application forms and inquiry records may not show a preference, limitation or discrimination based on a protected class (MCL 37.2502(1)(f)).See Fair housing on the Michigan page