Michigan Residential Lease Agreement

What a Michigan residential lease agreement is for

Michigan regulates the content of residential leases more directly than most states. The Truth in Renting Act requires a specific notice in every written lease, in at least 12-point type, and voids lease clauses that take away tenants' rights, such as waivers of the landlord's repair duty or one-sided attorney's fee provisions. The Security Deposits Act caps deposits at one and one-half months' rent and requires a series of statements, some in a precise type size, about the forwarding address, the inventory checklist and the response to a damage claim. A landlord who skips them can lose the deposit and owe double.

This template is a full Michigan lease that prints every one of those statements where the law expects them. It covers the parties and the address for notices, term, rent and late fees, the security deposit from holding to return, the domestic violence statement, utilities, use, pets and smoking, the landlord's repair covenant, entry, insurance, default and termination, prohibited provisions and attorney's fees. Schedules provide the inventory checklist, the lead disclosure and the itemized list of damages with its 7-day response notice.

When to use it

Use it to rent a house, apartment, flat, duplex unit or condo anywhere in Michigan, from Detroit and Grand Rapids to Ann Arbor and Lansing, on a fixed term or month to month. It suits individual landlords and small property managers who want a lease that complies with both acts without hiring a lawyer for every rental.

Check local rules too: Ann Arbor, Detroit and other cities have rental registration, inspection and other ordinances. Leases of more than one year must also include the early termination rights MCL 554.601a sets for some tenants. Public and subsidized housing use program leases.

What's inside

The full list of sections and fields in this template, in the order they appear.

1. Truth in Renting notice

   • Required notice in 12-point type or larger

2. Parties, premises and term

   • Landlord and notice address
   • Agent
   • Tenants and occupants
   • Premises
   • Fixed term or month to month

3. Rent

   • Monthly rent and payment
   • Cash receipts
   • Reasonable late fee

4. Security deposit

   • 1.5-month cap
   • Financial institution or bond
   • Forwarding address notice in bold
   • 30-day itemized list
   • Permitted uses
   • Inventory checklist

5. Domestic violence statement

   • Statement under MCL 554.601a and 554.601b

6. Use, repairs and entry

   • Utilities
   • Occupancy and subletting
   • Pets and assistance animals
   • Smoking
   • Landlord's covenant of fitness
   • Tenant duties
   • Alarms
   • Entry
   • Insurance

7. Default and prohibited provisions

   • 7-day demand
   • Notice to quit
   • No self-help
   • Senior and other early termination
   • Truth in Renting protections
   • Reciprocal attorney's fees

8. Schedules A to C

   • Inventory checklist with statement
   • Lead disclosure
   • Itemized list of damages with 7-day response notice

9. Landlord's Checklist

   • 10 checks before handing over the keys

Preview pages

How to fill in the lease

1. Keep the Truth in Renting notice at the top. Print the lease so the notice is at least 12-point.
2. Enter the parties and the address for notices.
3. Choose the term. Fixed term or month to month.
4. Set rent and a reasonable late fee.
5. Record the deposit and its holder. No more than 1.5 months' rent, held in a regulated institution or backed by a bond.
6. Check the type sizes. The forwarding address notice must be in bold, at least 4 points larger than the body text.
7. Give two blank inventory checklists at move-in, and collect one back within 7 days.
8. Choose pet and smoking terms, and attach the lead disclosure for pre-1978 homes.
9. At move-out, use Schedule C within 30 days, mailed first class.

Example: deposit timeline in Grand Rapids

A fictional landlord, Heritage Hill Homes LLC, leases an upper flat in Grand Rapids to Keisha Watts for 12 months from July 1, 2026 at $1,400 a month.

Deposit: $2,100 (1.5 months), held at a Grand Rapids credit union named in the lease. Checklist: two blank copies given July 1; Keisha returns hers on July 6, noting a cracked bathroom tile. Move-out: June 30, 2027. Keisha gives her forwarding address by email and letter on July 2 (within 4 days). Damage notice: mailed July 20, 2027, claiming $180 for a damaged screen door, with a check for $1,920 and the 7-day response statement. The cracked tile is not charged because it is on the move-in checklist.

Michigan rules to know

• Truth in Renting notice (MCL 554.634). Required in every written lease, in at least 12-point type.
• Prohibited provisions (MCL 554.633). Waivers of repair duties, jury trial or defences, and one-sided attorney's fees are void.
• Deposit cap (MCL 554.602). One and one-half months' rent.
• Holding and notice (MCL 554.603 and 554.604). Regulated institution or bond; forwarding address statement in bold.
• Inventory checklist (MCL 554.608). Two copies at move-in; 7 days to return.
• Return (MCL 554.609). Thirty days, itemized list by first-class mail; tenant responds within 7 days.
• Domestic violence statement (MCL 554.601a). Required in the lease.
• Possession (MCL 600.5714 and 600.2918). 7-day demand for non-payment; no self-help.

Where Michigan landlords lose deposit disputes

Michigan deposit cases usually turn on missing paperwork. The lease or 14-day notice never gave the forwarding address statement in the required bold type, so the tenant did not have to provide an address and the landlord still owed the itemized list. No inventory checklist was given, so the landlord had no proof the damage was new. The damage list went out after 30 days, or without the 7-day response statement. A pet deposit pushed the total above 1.5 months' rent. Each one can cost the landlord the deposit and double damages. This lease's statements, schedules and checklist exist to prevent them.