Michigan eviction notice periods
For unpaid rent, the notice is a written 7-day demand for possession under MCL 600.5714(1)(a) and MCL 554.134(2). Rent due only because a lease was accelerated after a breach doesn’t count toward the amount demanded. To end a month-to-month tenancy without cause, MCL 554.134(1) requires one month’s notice, or notice equal to the rent interval if rent is paid more often than every three months.
Michigan gives landlords shorter paths for dangerous conduct. If a lease allows termination for drug activity and a formal police report has been filed, a written 24-hour notice to quit is enough under MCL 554.134(4) and 600.5714(1)(b). A tenant who causes or threatens physical injury on the landlord’s property, with police notified, gets 7 days under 600.5714(1)(e). A serious and continuing health hazard or extensive damage also carries a 7-day demand to leave or repair under 600.5714(1)(d).
For other lease violations, Michigan sets no statutory cure period. The lease must give you a power to terminate, and the case rests on 600.5714(1)(c)(i) once that termination takes effect.
What the demand must say and how to deliver it
MCL 600.5716 requires the demand to be in writing, addressed to the person in possession, and to describe the premises. It must state the reason and the time to fix it, give the amount due when rent is the issue, and be dated and signed by the landlord, an attorney or an agent. The state court form for this is DC 100a.
Service methods are set by MCL 600.5718: hand it to the tenant, leave it at the unit with a household member of suitable age with a request to pass it on, or send it first-class mail. A mailed demand counts as served on the next regular mail delivery day, so the 7 days start a day later. Email service works only if the tenant consented in writing and the consent was confirmed electronically, and a landlord can’t refuse to rent to someone who declines.
Statewide restrictions in Michigan
Michigan has no statewide just-cause requirement for private rentals. A landlord can end a month-to-month tenancy for no stated reason with proper notice. Just cause is required in public housing run by a local government and in mobile home parks under MCL 600.5714(2) and (3), and it can also come from federal program rules if your building receives a subsidy.
The bigger statewide limit is procedural. The court rule amendments that took effect November 6, 2023 moved most of the pandemic-era protections into MCR 4.201 permanently, and the Supreme Court rescinded the old administrative order in March 2024. Those rules shape every step that follows.
The Michigan eviction case, step by step
File the complaint in the district court for the area where the building sits, attaching the lease and the demand. Under MCR 4.201 the complaint must also allege that the property complies with state and local health and safety laws, which MCL 554.139 already requires.
The court issues a summons that, under MCL 600.5735(2)(b), sets the first appearance within 10 days of issuance and must be served at least 3 days before that date. A copy of the court’s Advice of Rights and Information (DC 538) and local rental assistance information go with it. You can ask the court to mail a second copy in a court envelope, which SCAO priced at a flat $13.
That second mailing matters. A residential tenant who wasn’t personally served and didn’t get the court’s second mailing can’t be defaulted at the first appearance under MCR 4.201(G)(5). The court must instead reschedule and mail notice.
At the first appearance, the judge advises the tenant of the right to a lawyer, to rental assistance and to a jury. Unless the case is resolved, MCR 4.201(K)(1)(a) adjourns the trial at least 7 and no more than 14 days. For good cause, it can be adjourned up to 56 days.
Residential nonpayment cases get one more pause. Under MCR 4.201(I)(3), the court must stay the case if the tenant shows within five days that a rental assistance application is in. The stay lifts after 14 days unless the application is still pending or approved, and it can’t run past 28 days in total.
Judgment, the 10-day wait and the order of eviction
At trial, the judge enters a judgment for possession and, in a rent case, states the amount owed under MCL 600.5741. That amount, plus taxed costs, is what the tenant must pay to stop the eviction. Under MCL 600.5744(7), no writ issues if the tenant pays it within the 10-day window.
The writ, called an order of eviction in the court rules, can’t issue until 10 days after judgment under 600.5744(5). The exceptions in 600.5744(3) include drug cases under the 24-hour provision, serious health hazards or damage, and forcible entry. The court rule has the order delivered to the officer within 7 days after it’s filed, and an order can’t issue more than 56 days after judgment without a hearing.
The order goes to a court officer appointed by the court, a bailiff, the sheriff or a local police officer. Under 600.5744(1), that officer removes the occupants and their property, either to a public area or right-of-way or to the sheriff if the sheriff allows. Post-judgment motions are due within 10 days. An appeal goes to the circuit court under MCL 600.5753, and a tenant who appeals and wants to stay the eviction must post a bond, with escrow of rent ordered while the appeal runs.
Self-help, retaliation and the tenant’s right to pay
Lockouts are expensive in Michigan. MCL 600.2918(2) lets a tenant recover actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, for each occurrence of unlawful interference, which includes changing locks without giving keys, removing doors or belongings, boarding the unit, or cutting heat, water or power. A forcible removal triggers treble damages or $200 under 600.2918(1). The statute can’t be waived in a lease.
Under MCL 600.5720, a judgment for possession can’t enter if the termination was mainly a penalty for the tenant enforcing rights, reporting code violations or joining a tenant organization. If the tenant took official action within 90 days before you filed, retaliation is presumed and you must disprove it.
Tenants can also defend a rent case by showing you breached the lease in a way that excuses rent, or that rent was paid into a court-ordered escrow under the Housing Law of Michigan.
Federal rules for Michigan apartment owners
If the building has a federally backed mortgage, such as a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA loan, or a covered federal program, the CARES Act may apply. Section 4024(c), at 15 U.S.C. 9058(c), bars a landlord of a covered property from requiring a tenant to leave until 30 days after a notice to vacate. The moratorium ended in 2020, but the 30-day text remains and courts have split on whether it still applies, so a 30-day notice at a covered building is the safer course.
Before asking for a default judgment, file an affidavit of the tenant’s military status under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. 3931.
Michigan eviction timeline at a glance
This table covers a residential nonpayment case with no jury demand, stay or appeal.
| Step | Deadline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Written demand for possession | 7 days; 24 hours for police-reported drugs | MCL 600.5714(1)(a)–(b), 554.134 |
| Mailed demand | Served on the next mail delivery day | MCL 600.5718(1)(c) |
| First appearance on summons | Within 10 days of issuance | MCL 600.5735(2)(b) |
| Serve summons | At least 3 days before the first appearance | MCL 600.5735(2)(b) |
| Automatic adjournment of trial | 7 to 14 days; up to 56 for good cause | MCR 4.201(K)(1) |
| Rental assistance stay | 14 days, 28 days maximum | MCR 4.201(I)(3) |
| Writ or order of eviction | Not before 10 days after judgment | MCL 600.5744(5) |
| Post-judgment motions | Within 10 days of judgment | MCR 4.201 |
| Latest order without a hearing | 56 days after judgment | MCR 4.201 |
Worked example: the minimum cost of a Michigan eviction
Assume a $1,300-a-month unit in a 16-unit building in Detroit, a tenant who stops paying, a demand handed to the tenant in person, and a case with no stay, jury demand or appeal.
Serve the demand on day 0 and file on day 8, after the 7 days run. If the summons issues that day, the first appearance can fall as late as day 18. The automatic adjournment of at least 7 days puts trial on day 25. The writ can issue 10 days after judgment, on day 35.
At $1,300 a month, rent runs about $42.74 a day, so 35 days is about $1,496 of lost rent. Add an assumed $1,200 for an attorney and the minimum is about $2,696, before officer fees and turnover. A rental assistance stay can add up to 28 days, and a 56-day good-cause adjournment would roughly double the timeline.
Alternatives to a Michigan eviction
The first appearance is built for settlement, so bring a ledger and a proposal. A consent judgment with a payment schedule, or one with a move-out date, ends the case without waiting for the adjourned trial. If a rental assistance application is pending, a short agreed payment plan can get you paid sooner than a contested trial.
Cash for keys is worth pricing against the 35-day minimum. A written agreement paying the tenant to leave by a date, paid when the keys come back, avoids the adjournments and the officer’s schedule.
Selling a Michigan building with a pending eviction
You can sell with a case open. The buyer becomes the landlord, and whether the buyer substitutes into the pending case or files fresh depends on how the purchase agreement assigns the claim. Spell out who controls the case, who keeps the judgment money and who pays counsel.
Buyers will ask for tenant estoppel certificates, the rent ledger and the court file. Deposits matter too, since Michigan has its own transfer rules, which our Michigan landlord-tenant law guide explains.
Selling your Michigan apartment building to Skyline
Skyline buys occupied Michigan apartment buildings with five or more units, including ones with problem tenants or a case already in district court. We underwrite the rent roll as it stands.
Send the address and unit count through the form on this page or call (469) 660-2977. We typically respond within 48 hours.
