Michigan tenant screening laws

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

Use clear, lawful rental criteria and apply them consistently. A background report may contain credit, rental, court or other information, but availability does not mean every item may be used for every property. Tenant-screening reports are consumer reports under the FCRA; federal reporting duties and applicable state and local housing protections all matter (FTC: using consumer reports as a landlord; City of Ann Arbor: rental housing laws).

• Ann Arbor has a distinct local restriction. The city's rental-housing guidance says its Fair Chance Access to Housing Ordinance prohibits landlords with one or more units in the city from using criminal history in tenant selection. Check the ordinance's coverage and any specific exception before asking for that information or ordering a report containing it. This is an Ann Arbor example, not a statewide screening permission or a review of every Michigan city (City of Ann Arbor: rental housing laws).
• If a consumer report contributes to a denial, higher rent or deposit, a cosigner requirement or another unfavorable decision, give an adverse-action notice. Include the reporting company's name, address and phone number; explain that it did not make the decision and cannot explain your reasons; and state the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information and request a free report from that company within sixty days. The FTC recommends a written notice. Additional duties can apply to investigative reports and under local law (FTC: using consumer reports as a landlord).
• Check that the report belongs to the applicant and that court entries show the relevant outcome rather than assuming a filing proves an eviction. Give discrepancies careful attention, preserve relevant communications and direct report errors to the reporting company's dispute process. Keep the criteria, authorization and report date, reviewed facts and any required notice in an access-controlled file. A report score alone does not explain a rental decision (FTC: disputing tenant background report errors).See Fair housing on the Michigan page

Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act bars housing discrimination based on religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, familial status or marital status. Since April 2, 2025, a landlord with 5 or more rental units in Michigan, counting related entities, may not discriminate based on a tenant's lawful source of income, such as a housing choice voucher (MCL 37.2502; MCL 554.601c).

• The bar covers refusing to rent, different terms, saying a unit is unavailable when it is not, and ads, application forms or inquiry records that show a preference (MCL 37.2502(1)(a) to (f)).
• Those protections do not apply to renting part of an owner-occupied two-family building, a room in a single-family home where the owner or an immediate family member lives, or the owner's own home for up to 12 months after living there at least 3 months (MCL 37.2503(1)(a), (b)).
• A tenant may sue over source of income discrimination for an injunction and damages of actual loss or up to three times the monthly rent, whichever is less, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees (MCL 554.601d(1)).
• For covered housing, the separate disability Act bars discriminatory refusals, terms, application forms and inquiry records because of a disability unrelated to the person's ability to acquire, rent or maintain property, or use of adaptive aids. Section 37.1503 excludes specified owner- or family-occupied two-family buildings and rooms in a shared single dwelling from section 37.1502. Check coverage and other applicable protections (MCL 37.1502; MCL 37.1503).
• Housing assistance the agency has not approved within 30 days after you give it all the information it requires, including proof of required repairs, is not a protected source of income (MCL 554.601(f)).
• Michigan also generally requires a housing accommodation for a person with a disability unless the responsible person demonstrates undue hardship. Review the particular request under the applicable disability law rather than treating a standard policy as the complete answer (MCL 37.1102).