Breaking a lease in Michigan

Every Michigan lease must let a tenant who has lived in the unit more than 13 months end it on 60 days' written notice if the tenant becomes eligible for subsidized senior citizen housing and gives you written proof, or becomes unable to live independently as a physician certifies in a notarized statement (MCL 554.601a(1)).

• A tenant with a reasonable fear of present danger from domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking can be released from rent by giving written notice by certified mail with qualifying documents, such as a valid protection order or a police report that led to charges (MCL 554.601b(1) to (3)).
• That release takes effect no later than the first day of the second month that rent is due after the notice, never before the tenant moves out, and does not reach prepaid amounts such as first and last months' rent (MCL 554.601b(2)).
• You may apply the deposit to rent due because the tenant ended the lease early (MCL 554.607(b)).See Deposit return on the Michigan page
• A lease may not release either party from the duty to mitigate damages (MCL 554.633(1)(k)).
• If the home is destroyed or made unfit to live in without the tenant's fault, the tenant may move out and owes no rent after surrendering possession, unless your written lease provides otherwise (MCL 554.201).
• Share a released tenant's forwarding address only as your ordinary business requires, and never intentionally reveal it or the tenant's documents to the person the tenant named as the source of danger. Other tenants on the same lease stay bound by it (MCL 554.601b(4), (5)).
• The release packet must include a written statement of reasonable apprehension of present danger to the tenant or the tenant's child, along with the supporting document. The statutory child definition includes a minor child living with the tenant or an adult child who is legally incapacitated (MCL 554.601b(1)-(2), (8)(a)).
• Qualifying protective, probation, conditional-release or parole orders must still be in effect when submitted and meet the statutory conditions. For a police report, charges filed within the preceding 14 days satisfy one document route; a report with older charges also requires a verifiable threat of present danger. The statutory verified-report form can demonstrate that threat (MCL 554.601b(3)(a)-(e)).
• A report verified by a qualified third party is a separate document option, using substantially the statutory form. The listed verifiers include sexual-assault or domestic-violence counselors, licensed or registered health professionals, mental-health professionals, and clergy affiliated with a qualifying tax-exempt religious institution listed in a telephone directory. This route does not require obtaining a protection order or a police report first (MCL 554.601b(3)(e), (8)(c), (e)).

In an eviction for nonpayment, a tenant may defend by showing that your breach of the lease excuses the rent, and the court must deduct any rent excused by your breach of the lease or of the fitness and repair covenants. The Housing Law of Michigan provides for rent escrow, but this page did not read it (MCL 600.5720(1)(f); MCL 600.5741).

• Rent paid into an escrow account, under a court order or to a receiver under the Housing Law of Michigan is also a defense to a nonpayment eviction (MCL 600.5720(1)(g)).
• A clause that waives or alters these remedies is void (MCL 554.633(1)(a); MCL 554.633(3)).See Repairs and habitability on the Michigan page

Michigan has no statute that sets a general rule on subletting a home. The lease controls, so state in it whether the tenant needs your written consent (MCL 554.601 to 554.616; MCL 554.631 to 554.641).

Either party may end a tenancy at will, such as month to month, with one month's notice. When rent is paid at intervals shorter than three months, notice equal to the interval between rent payments is enough, and the tenancy ends at the end of a period that long (MCL 554.134(1)).

• A notice is not void because the end date it states does not fall at the start or end of a rental period (MCL 554.134(1)).
• A year-to-year tenancy ends one year after either party serves a notice to quit (MCL 554.134(3)).

Within 30 days after the tenant's occupancy ends (move-out), you must mail the tenant an itemized notice of any damages you claim, with the estimated repair cost of each item, along with the balance of the deposit. If you miss the 30 days, the law treats it as your agreement that nothing is owed and you must return the full deposit immediately (MCL 554.609; MCL 554.610).

• You may apply a deposit only to actual damage beyond what normal living in the home causes, unpaid rent, rent due because the tenant ended the lease early, and utility bills the tenant left unpaid (MCL 554.607).
• Instead of enclosing a check or money order, you may now send the balance by direct deposit or electronic transfer to the tenant's bank, internet or mobile payment account, within 10 days after mailing the notice of damages. This option took effect September 21, 2026 (MCL 554.609(3)).
• The notice of damages must carry a fixed statement, in 12 point bold type at least 4 points larger than the rest of the notice, telling the tenant to respond by mail within 7 days or forfeit the amount claimed (MCL 554.609(4)).
• The tenant must give you a forwarding address in writing within 4 days after moving out. If the tenant does not, you are relieved of sending the notice of damages, but the tenant can still claim the deposit later (MCL 554.611).
• To keep a disputed amount, you must sue for it within 45 days after the tenant's occupancy ends, unless the tenant gave no forwarding address, did not respond to your notice, agreed in writing, or the whole claim is unpaid rent for a period the tenant had possession. Otherwise return the balance (MCL 554.613(1)).
• A landlord who does not comply fully with that 45-day rule waives all claimed damages and owes the tenant double the amount of the deposit retained (MCL 554.613(2)).
• If you sell or transfer the property, you stay liable for the deposit until you transfer it to the new owner and tell the tenant by ordinary mail the new owner's name and address, the new owner complies with the deposit account rule, or the deposit is returned (MCL 554.614).