9 Things a Michigan Landlord Can’t Legally Do to Renters in 2026

If your rent is $1,200 in Michigan, your landlord can’t ask for more than $1,800 as a security deposit.

That’s one of the limits state law sets, and renters don’t always know where the lines are.

Here’s what a Michigan landlord can’t legally do to renters in 2026.

Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Rental rules and notice periods are subject to change, so confirm the current requirements with the Michigan Department of Attorney General.

1. Locking You Out

Changing the locks on you without immediately handing over new keys is illegal for a Michigan landlord.

Taking or destroying your belongings is unlawful too.

So is cutting off a service so essential, like heat, running water, electric, or gas, that losing it forces you out.

Each time a landlord does any of this, you can recover your actual damages or $200, whichever is greater.

If a landlord uses force to put you out or keep you out, you can recover three times your actual damages or $200, whichever is greater.

A lease can’t waive them.

2. Overcharging on Deposits

Michigan caps what a landlord can ask you for as a security deposit at 1½ months’ rent.

Say your rent is $1,200.

Your cap is $1,800.

A landlord can use your deposit for any purpose only after filing a cash or surety bond with the Secretary of State.

3. Keeping Your Deposit Without Notice

A landlord who claims damage has to mail you an itemized list of it within 30 days after you move out.

If a landlord misses that deadline, the law treats it as agreeing that no damages are due.

If you gave your forwarding address on time, the landlord then has to return your full deposit immediately.

A landlord who breaks the retention rules can also waive all claimed damages and owe you double the amount kept.

Partial compliance isn’t enough.

Since September 21, 2026, a landlord can also pay what you’re owed by direct deposit, transfer, or payment app, within 10 days after mailing the notice.

4. Refusing You Over Income Source

Under Michigan’s source-of-income ban, a landlord with five or more rental units can’t turn you down because of where your income comes from.

That includes housing vouchers, public assistance, veterans’ benefits, Social Security, and retirement programs.

The same ban stops a landlord from ending your tenancy or charging you different prices, fees, or terms over it.

A rental ad can’t state a preference or limit based on any source of income.

The ban began April 2, 2025.

5. Charging for Every Payment Method

Your landlord can’t charge a fee on every way your lease lets you pay rent.

Lawmakers added the rule to the Truth in Renting Act, and it took effect on September 21.

If the lease offers more than one payment method, it has to include a payment method with no extra charge.

The catch?

A landlord can still put a fee on some payment methods, as long as a free payment method remains.

If every payment method in your lease carries a fee, that clause breaks the rule and is void.

6. Banned Lease Clauses

Some clauses are off limits for a landlord, and any that sneak into your lease are void.

The Truth in Renting Act bans a lease clause that provides for a confession of judgment.

It also bans a clause that makes you give the landlord a power of attorney.

A lease can’t take away your right to demand a jury trial either.

Mid-lease, a landlord can’t change your agreement without your written consent.

A few exceptions exist.

Examples include higher property taxes, utility charges, and liability, fire, or workers’ compensation insurance premiums.

The lease has to provide for the adjustment, and the landlord has to give you 30 days’ written notice.

7. Discriminating Against You

Who you are generally can’t decide whether a landlord rents to you or on what terms.

Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act covers religion, race, color, national origin, age, and sex.

It also covers sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, familial status, and marital status.

It covers the whole process.

That includes a landlord who refuses to negotiate with you or otherwise makes a listing unavailable to you because of who you are.

8. Evicting You as Payback

Courts won’t hand a landlord an eviction when the main goal is to punish you for using your rights.

That covers reporting a code violation to a government authority, enforcing your rights under the lease or the law, and joining a tenant organization.

You raise it as a defense in the eviction case.

Timing matters.

If you took that step less than 90 days before the case began, a court should presume the eviction was retaliatory, and the landlord has to show otherwise.

If you took it more than 90 days before, a court won’t presume that, and you have to prove the retaliation.

9. Dodging Repairs

Nearly every residential lease carries a landlord’s promise that your home is fit for the use intended.

Common areas count too.

The same promise covers keeping your home in reasonable repair for the whole lease.

A landlord also has to follow the health and safety laws of the state and the local government.

The repair duty doesn’t cover damage that comes from your willful or irresponsible conduct.

A lease of a year or longer can modify some of these duties.

Even so, a landlord can’t have you waive your remedy when the home falls short, and a lease clause that tries is void.

The Rent Control Ban

Michigan bars every city, county, village, and township from controlling what a landlord charges.

So your city council can’t cap what you pay.

Local governments can still run voluntary incentive plans to add moderate- or low-cost rentals.

Enforcing the Source-of-Income Rule

A landlord's five-unit count includes every related entity, meaning any company that controls, is controlled by, or shares control with the landlord.

Owning units through several linked companies doesn't automatically get a landlord under five.

If a landlord over that line breaks the ban, you can sue for an injunction, damages, or both.