If you are planning to move, signing the lease to your new home, apartment, or condo, you will usually have a contract to sign which lists things that could cause you to break the lease, breach the contract, or make you lose your security deposit. Or also given homeowners association/community rights and rules.
Yes, these might be the rights or rules of your specific property, but each state has its own rights that all renters statewide are entitled to. Specifically, Michigan’s renters have a multitude of rights throughout the state, including laws that prohibit discrimination against race, religion, sex, and marital status, to name a few, entitled to a home that is in good and habitable condition.
When reading about your rights as a renter, it can feel overwhelming. The state’s website can be challenging to navigate if you don’t know your way around it. You could be a first-time renter or just haven’t had experience with any of it.
- Anti-Discrimination Protections
- Eviction Protections and Rent Increases and Payment
In the state of Michigan, people who decide to rent are protected from housing discrimination under state and federal laws. The Federal Fair Housing Act and Federal Fair Housing Act stop landlords, real estate agents, and property managers from discriminating against their tenants for any of the following: race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, disability, or age.
This ensures that laws are in place to protect all individuals and ensure equal housing opportunities.
What are renters’ rights in Michigan?
All landlords in Michigan are not allowed to refuse rent to someone or impose false or different rental terms based on any of the previous traits I’ve stated. One scenario of this could be a landlord telling a tenant who uses a wheelchair can’t install a ramp and lifts. Under your rights as a renter, if you are disabled, you have every right to put up whatever you need, whether or not your landlord is ok with it.
According to Michigan’s official government website, “The following online search tools can assist you with finding rental housing:
MSHDA Search Tools
- Affordable Rental Housing Directory (ARHD): Provides a search tool of all the MSHDA, HUD, Low Income Housing Tax Credit, and Rural Development financed developments in Michigan. Additionally, some local Public Housing Agencies have included their rental housing information in this search.
- Michigan Housing Locator: Provides a search tool for both subsidized and market rental housing in Michigan,”.
Additionally, if a person has a service animal and the building happens to be pet-free, they would fall under the exception. On top of this, tenants are protected against discriminatory advertising that would discourage certain groups, like a for rent sign saying, “Renters can only be of the Catholic faith.” Michigan’s protection for its renters isn’t only there during your lease but also before.
These rights also extend to the application process, during and when renewing a lease. Furthermore, if you do reach out to the state for help, the landlords are prohibited from raising rent or having stipulations because you went to the state. If you do have an issue at any point, just file a complaint with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights or the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Along with making sure their renters are not discriminated against, Michigan law also provides renters with important eviction protections, ensuring that tenants cannot be evicted without due process. This means the landlords must have a valid legal reason to evict said tenant, such as not paying the rent, violating their lease, or having it expire. In most cases, the process starts with a written notice to the renter. After this, if they are still refusing to pay, the landlord must issue a 7-day notice to pay or quit, giving the tenant the chance to pay the overdue rent or move out.
For lease violations, a thirty notice may be given, but this varies from lease to lease. Even after this process, at the end of the thirty days, the landlord can still not evict you. From here, they have to file a formal eviction lawsuit in court. Again, this protects you, the renter, to be able to have a fair opportunity to defend yourself in front of a judge. Additionally, if the said landlord tried to go around the legal system and try to “smoke you out” that would be illegal too. The state stops them from shutting off utilities or changing the locks. Lastly, the state would be on your side if the landlord tried to evict you for reporting housing and code violations. When it comes to Michigan and rent control laws, it can get tricky.
Renters in the state are protected from unfair rent increases and payment issues, but the state of Michigan itself does not have any rent control laws. This means landlords can set their properties’ rent according to the market or however they please, yet they are required to follow specific procedures when raising rent.
If you are in a month-to-month lease, landlords have to give you a thirty day written notice before increasing. On the other hand, fixed-term leases can not have their rent raised during the leasing term unless explicitly written otherwise in their agreement.
Not only does Michigan protect rent increases, but it also regulates late fees and the proper steps for a landlord to handle payment issues. Said fees must be outlined in the lease agreement at signing and have to be reasonable. But if your lease does not include late fees, landlords just can’t put them on later. You also have a grace period for rent payments protected throughout the state.
What rights do I have as a renter in Michigan?
Every renter deserves the right to be informed about all payment terms before signing a lease and the right for landlords not to change without notice. So many slum-lords and below-the-board landlords and management companies try to take advantage of renters who aren’t armed with the knowledge that they are protected.
Remember, you have a right to housing no matter who you love, your race, color, religion, national origin, familial status, disability, or age. If your landlord tries to evict you without notice, you’re entitled to your written notice, 30 days, and your day in court. Or if you happen to need your service animal or emotional support animal, the apartments that were off limits because they aren’t pet friendly have now become an option for you. Thankfully, most Michigan laws are here to protect us.