Free Michigan Residential Lease Agreement

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A configurable Michigan residential lease agreement that generates a signable multi-page PDF. Built to the Security Deposit Act at MCL 554.601, the Truth in Renting Act at MCL 554.631, the required duplicate inventory checklist, and the forty-five-day sue-or-return rule.

Michigan MCL 554.601 & 554.631 Checklist Required Free PDF 2026 Edition

A Michigan residential lease agreement is governed by two separate statutes rather than one uniform act, and that is the single most useful thing to know before you draft one. The Security Deposit Act, 1972 PA 348 at MCL 554.601 and following, controls the money. The Truth in Renting Act, 1978 PA 454 at MCL 554.631 and following, controls the words — it lists fourteen clause types a Michigan lease may not contain and requires a specific notice to appear in the agreement itself. Michigan never adopted the uniform residential landlord and tenant act, so there is no single chapter to read, no statutory entry rule at all, and several duties that most templates treat as optional are in fact mandatory: a move-in inventory checklist in duplicate, a senior citizen termination clause, and a fourteen-day deposit notice without which a landlord may not require a deposit at all. Verified 6 August 2026 against the official Michigan Legislature compilation, marked complete through Public Act 20 of 2026.

Complete the fields below to generate a Michigan residential lease agreement as a signable multi-page PDF. Every field you fill is written into the document, and the generated lease cites the controlling Michigan section at each point — including the Truth in Renting Act notice on the title page, the whole move-out sequence, and both verbatim boldface statements the Security Deposit Act prescribes. Before handing over keys, run proper tenant screening. Pair the signed lease with a Michigan move-in / move-out checklist, which in this state is not optional paperwork but a statutory duty under MCL 554.608.

One and a half months’ rent. MCL 554.602 provides that a landlord may require a security deposit for each rental unit, that it shall be required and maintained in accordance with the terms of the act, and that it shall not exceed 1 1/2 months’ rent. That figure is widely reported and is correct. What is almost never reported is how much money the statute counts toward it.

MCL 554.601(d) defines a security deposit as a deposit in any amount paid by the tenant to be held for the term or any part of the term, and expressly includes three further things: any required prepayment of rent other than the first full rental period of the lease; any sum required to be paid as rent in any rental period in excess of the average rent for the term; and any other money or property returnable to the tenant on condition that the unit is returned in the condition the agreement requires.

Read that first limb slowly, because it catches a very ordinary practice. A landlord who collects first month’s rent, last month’s rent and a deposit equal to one month has, in the statute’s eyes, taken a security deposit of two months’ rent — the last month’s rent is a required prepayment of rent other than the first full rental period. That breaches MCL 554.602 even though the paperwork calls part of it rent. The form above therefore asks for prepaid rent as a separate figure and the generated lease states the position openly.

Two exclusions sit on the face of the definition: an amount paid for an option to purchase under a lease with an option to purchase, unless it is shown the intent was to evade the act, and an amount paid as a subscription for or purchase of a membership in a cooperative housing association incorporated under Michigan law. Our Michigan security deposit laws guide covers the arithmetic in more detail.

It is a precondition, not a formality. MCL 554.603 opens with a prohibition: a landlord shall not require a security deposit unless the landlord notifies the tenant, no later than fourteen days from the date the tenant assumes possession, in a written instrument, of three things.

• The landlord’s name and address for receipt of communications under the act.
• The name and address of the financial institution or surety required by section 4 of the act, meaning MCL 554.604.
• The tenant’s obligation to provide in writing a forwarding mailing address to the landlord within four days after termination of occupancy.

The section then prescribes a warning in twelve-point boldface type which is at least four points larger than the body of the notice or lease agreement, and it sets out the exact words: “You must notify your landlord in writing within 4 days after you move of a forwarding address where you can be reached and where you will receive mail; otherwise your landlord shall be relieved of sending you an itemized list of damages and the penalties adherent to that failure.” The generated lease reproduces that sentence verbatim, because paraphrasing a statutory notice is how landlords lose the benefit of it.

The sting is in the last line of the section. Failure to provide the information relieves the tenant of the obligation relative to notifying the landlord of a forwarding address. A landlord who never sends the fourteen-day notice therefore cannot later rely on the tenant’s silence about a forwarding address, which is one of the four exceptions that would otherwise let the landlord retain a disputed deposit.

MCL 554.604(1) requires the security deposit to be deposited in a regulated financial institution. A landlord may use the money for any purpose the landlord desires only by depositing with the Secretary of State a cash bond, or a surety bond written by a surety company licensed to do business in Michigan and acceptable to the Attorney General, securing the entire deposits up to fifty thousand dollars and twenty-five per cent of any amount exceeding that. The Attorney General may find a bond unacceptable only on reasonable criteria relating to its sufficiency, and must give the landlord written reasons.

MCL 554.604(2) makes the bond run for the benefit of the persons making deposits, and lets a beneficiary or their legal representative sue on it in the district, common pleas or municipal court where the landlord resides or does business. The form above asks which arrangement applies, because MCL 554.603 requires the institution’s or surety’s name and address to appear in the fourteen-day notice.

Two further provisions decide who owns the money in the meantime. MCL 554.605 states that for the purposes of the act and any litigation under it, the security deposit is considered the lawful property of the tenant until the landlord establishes a right to it. MCL 554.607 then closes the list of things it may be spent on: reimbursing the landlord for actual damages to the unit or an ancillary facility that are the direct result of conduct not reasonably expected in the normal course of habitation, and paying rent in arrearage, rent due for premature termination by the tenant, and unpaid utility bills. Ordinary wear and tear is not on that list, and neither is anything else.

MCL 554.606 makes the whole act non-waivable except where the act itself provides otherwise, and MCL 554.614 keeps the landlord liable for the deposit on a sale, assignment, death or receivership until it is transferred to the successor with written notice to the tenant, the successor complies with section 4, or the deposit is returned. MCL 554.615 lets the Attorney General or any affected individual bring an enforcement action.

Yes — and in duplicate. This is the strongest differentiator in Michigan lease law and the rankers treat it as good practice rather than as the statutory duty it is. MCL 554.608(1) provides that the landlord shall make use of inventory checklists both at the commencement and at the termination of occupancy for each rental unit for which a security deposit is required.

MCL 554.608(2) sets out the mechanics. At the commencement of the lease the landlord shall furnish the tenant two blank copies of a commencement inventory checklist, on a form identical to the form used for the termination checklist. It must include all items in the unit owned by the landlord, including but not limited to carpeting, draperies, appliances, windows, furniture, walls, closets, shelves, paint, doors, plumbing fixtures and electrical fixtures.

MCL 554.608(3) gives the tenant seven days after receiving possession to review the checklist, note the condition of the property, and return one copy — unless the parties agree to complete it within a shorter period. And MCL 554.608(4) requires the checklist to carry, in twelve-point boldface type at the top of the first page, this notice: “You should complete this checklist, noting the condition of the rental property, and return it to the landlord within 7 days after obtaining possession of the rental unit. You are also entitled to request and receive a copy of the last termination inventory checklist which shows what claims were chargeable to the last prior tenants.”

That second sentence is a genuine tenant right and it has teeth, because MCL 554.609 forbids the landlord’s itemized list from including any damages that were claimed on a previous termination inventory checklist before this tenant’s occupancy. A tenant who asks for the last checklist can see in advance which items the landlord has already charged to somebody else. Build both documents with our Michigan move-in and move-out checklist.

Thirty days to account, forty-five days to sue. Michigan does not have a single return deadline; it has a sequence with four deadlines belonging to two different parties, and the whole thing is worth setting out in order.

Step one, the tenant, four days. MCL 554.611 requires the tenant to notify the landlord in writing, at the address given under section 4, within four days after termination of occupancy, of an address at which communications may be received. The statute then says exactly what happens if the tenant does not: it relieves the landlord of the requirement of notice of damages but does not prejudice the tenant’s subsequent claim for the security deposit. A Michigan tenant who forgets the forwarding address does not forfeit the deposit, whatever template copy says.

Step two, the landlord, thirty days. MCL 554.609 requires the landlord, in case of damage or other obligation against the deposit, to mail the tenant within thirty days after termination of occupancy an itemized list of damages claimed for which the deposit may be used under section 7 — including the estimated cost of repair of each damaged item and the amounts and bases on which the landlord intends to assess the tenant. The list must be accompanied by a check or money order for the difference between the damages claimed and the deposit held. It must carry, in twelve-point boldface at least four points larger than the body: “You must respond to this notice by mail within 7 days after receipt of same, otherwise you will forfeit the amount claimed for damages.”

Miss step two and it is over. MCL 554.610 provides that failure to comply with the notice of damages requirement within the thirty days constitutes agreement by the landlord that no damages are due, and the landlord shall remit the full security deposit to the tenant immediately. There is no cure and no extension.

Step three, the tenant, seven days. MCL 554.612 requires the tenant, on receipt of a proper list of damages, to respond by ordinary mail to the address the landlord gave under section 3, within seven days, indicating in detail agreement or disagreement with each charge. The date of mailing is the date of the response, which matters when the seventh day is close.

Step four, the landlord, forty-five days. Covered in full in the next section. Use our Michigan security deposit itemization form for step two and the Michigan security deposit return letter where nothing is deducted.

It is the rule that decides who keeps a disputed deposit, and it is missing from every ranking Michigan page we tore down. MCL 554.613(1) provides that within forty-five days after termination of the occupancy and not thereafter the landlord may commence an action in a court of competent jurisdiction for a money judgment for the damages claimed, or in lieu thereof return the balance of the deposit held, or any amount mutually agreed upon in writing by the parties.

The next sentence is the operative one. A landlord shall not be entitled to retain any portion of a security deposit for damages claimed unless the landlord has first obtained a money judgment for the disputed amount, or filed with the court satisfactory proof of an inability to obtain service on the tenant — unless one of four situations applies:

• the tenant failed to provide a forwarding address as required by MCL 554.611;
• the tenant failed to respond to the notice of damages as required by MCL 554.612;
• the parties have agreed in writing to the disposition of the balance claimed; or
• the amount claimed is entirely based on accrued and unpaid rent equal to the actual rent for any full rental period, or portion of one, during which the tenant had actual or constructive possession.

Outside those four, a Michigan landlord who wants to keep money the tenant disputes has to go to court, and has forty-five days to start. Sitting on the deposit is not an option the statute leaves open. Note how the pieces interlock: a landlord who never sent the fourteen-day notice under MCL 554.603 cannot rely on the first exception, because that failure relieved the tenant of the forwarding-address duty in the first place.

MCL 554.613(2) supplies the penalty, and it is severe: failure of the landlord to comply fully with this section constitutes waiver of all claimed damages and makes the landlord liable to the tenant for double the amount of the security deposit retained. The same subsection preserves the landlord’s right to apply deposit funds to a money judgment obtained in summary proceedings under chapter 57 of the Revised Judicature Act, MCL 600.5701 to 600.5759, or in other proceedings at law.

Michigan is one of the few states where the statute reaches into the document and dictates text. MCL 554.634 has two subsections and both are mandatory.

Subsection (1) requires the rental agreement to state the name and address at which notice required under the act shall be given to the lessor. That is why the form above treats the landlord’s notice address as a required field rather than an optional nicety.

Subsection (2) requires the agreement to state, in a prominent place, in type not smaller than twelve-point type, or in legible print with letters not smaller than one eighth of an inch, a notice in substantially this form: “NOTICE: Michigan law establishes rights and obligations for parties to rental agreements. This agreement is required to comply with the Truth in Renting Act. If you have a question about the interpretation or legality of a provision of this agreement, you may want to seek assistance from a lawyer or other qualified person.”

A correction worth making, because we have seen it repeated in our own briefing as well as in competitor copy: the Truth in Renting notice is a twelve-point type requirement, not a boldface one. The statute asks for a prominent place and a minimum size, with an alternative expressed in eighths of an inch. The boldface requirements in Michigan law all live in the Security Deposit Act — MCL 554.603, MCL 554.608(4) and MCL 554.609 each demand twelve-point boldface, and two of the three add that it must be at least four points larger than the body text. Getting this backwards produces a lease that is bold where it need not be and undersized where it must not be.

The generated lease places the Truth in Renting notice on the title page at twelve point, and repeats it in the disclosures section together with the lessor notice address. Omitting it is not cosmetic: under MCL 554.636(2)(d) a tenant may recover five hundred dollars or actual damages, whichever is greater, where the agreement fails to contain a provision required by MCL 554.634 and the lessor does not cure within twenty days of written notice.

Fourteen of them, listed at MCL 554.633(1), and MCL 554.633(3) makes an offending provision void. This is the prohibited-provisions statute — not MCL 554.634, which is the mandatory-statements section, and which is regularly cited for the wrong thing. A Michigan rental agreement shall not include a provision that:

• (a) waives or alters a remedy available when the premises are in a condition that violates the covenants of fitness and habitability required by MCL 554.139;
• (b) provides that the parties waive a right established by the security deposit act, MCL 554.601 to 554.616;
• (c) excludes or discriminates against a person in violation of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act or the Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act;
• (d) provides for a confession of judgment by a party;
• (e) exculpates the lessor from liability for failing to perform, or negligently performing, a duty imposed by law — subject only to a narrow mutual release for a loss insured under a policy that permits waiver of liability and waives subrogation;
• (f) waives or alters a party’s right to demand a trial by jury, or any other right of notice or procedure required by law in a judicial proceeding arising under the agreement;
• (g) makes a party liable for another party’s legal costs or attorney fees in connection with a dispute arising under the agreement, in excess of costs or fees specifically permitted by statute;
• (h) gives the lessor a security interest in the tenant’s personal property to assure payment of rent or other charges, except as specifically allowed by law;
• (i) accelerates rent on a breach, unless it also states that the tenant may not be liable for the full accelerated amount because of the landlord’s obligation to minimize damages and that either party may have a court determine the actual amount owed;
• (j) waives or alters a party’s rights as to possession or eviction proceedings under MCL 600.2918, or summary proceedings under MCL 600.5701 to 600.5759;
• (k) releases a party from the duty to mitigate damages;
• (l) lets the lessor alter a provision after commencement without the tenant’s written consent — except adjustments on not less than thirty days’ written notice for changes required by law, for rule changes protecting the physical health, safety or peaceful enjoyment of tenants and guests, or for rent changes covering increases in ad valorem property taxes, electricity, heating fuel, water or sanitary sewer charges, or liability, fire or worker compensation insurance premiums;
• (m) violates the Michigan Consumer Protection Act, MCL 445.901 to 445.922; or
• (n) requires the tenant to give the lessor a power of attorney.

MCL 554.633(2) adds a moving target: an agreement may not include a clause that, not less than ninety days before it was executed, was prohibited by statute or declared unenforceable by a published decision of the Michigan Supreme Court or the United States Supreme Court relating to Michigan law.

The remedies are in MCL 554.636. A lessor may cure under MCL 554.635 by written notice to all current tenants stating that the provision is void, altering it to comply, or supplying a missing required statement. If the lessor fails to cure within twenty days after the tenant gives written notice, the tenant may sue to void the agreement and terminate the tenancy, to enjoin the lessor from using the clause again and to require cure across every current agreement, and to recover two hundred fifty dollars per action or actual damages, whichever is greater. Where the agreement omits a required MCL 554.634 statement, or contains a clause explicitly and unambiguously prohibited by MCL 554.633, the figure rises to five hundred dollars or actual damages. No prior notice is needed where a court of record has already condemned the clause in an action to which the lessor was a party, or where the lessor actually knew of the violation at signing.

Three scope points complete the picture. The act applies to a written agreement about the use and occupancy of residential premises that goes beyond the bare identity of the parties, a description of the premises, the rental period, the total rental amount, the payment amounts and when they are due (MCL 554.632(a)). Its requirements may not be waived (MCL 554.639). And a commercial seller who offers a printed lease form that violates the act is liable to the purchaser (MCL 554.638) — which is a real risk for the template industry, and a reason to read a downloaded Michigan lease before signing it.

No, and this is where Michigan differs from every state we have built so far. MCL 554.633(1)(g) does not ban fee-shifting outright and it does not permit it outright. It sets a ceiling pegged to statute: a rental agreement may not make a party liable for another party’s legal costs or attorney fees in connection with a dispute arising under the agreement in excess of costs or fees specifically permitted by statute.

Michigan supplies no statute awarding a residential landlord contract attorney fees in a tenancy dispute. An ordinary prevailing-party clause therefore exceeds the ceiling and is void under MCL 554.633(3). That is why this form offers no attorney-fee option at all — a checkbox generating a void clause is worse than no checkbox, because it looks like protection.

The fee awards Michigan does provide run the other way. Under MCL 554.636(4) a party who prevails in a Truth in Renting Act action recovers court costs plus statutory attorney fees. Under MCL 554.601d a successful source-of-income claimant recovers court costs and reasonable attorney fees. Both are tenant-side remedies created by statute, which is precisely why they survive subdivision (g).

None by statute — and that is a verified absence, not a gap in this page. Michigan never adopted the uniform residential landlord and tenant act. We read the Security Deposit Act at MCL 554.601 to 554.616, the Truth in Renting Act at MCL 554.631 to 554.641, the 1846 Revised Statutes landlord-tenant sections at MCL 554.131 to 554.139, and the summary proceedings chapter of the Revised Judicature Act at MCL 600.5701 to 600.5759. None of them contains a landlord access or entry provision. The Michigan Legislature’s own fifty-three-question official guide for tenants and landlords never asks the question either.

The practical consequence is direct: in Michigan, any notice a tenant receives before entry exists only because the lease creates it. A lease that is silent on entry leaves the question to general property principles and to whatever the parties can argue afterwards, which serves neither side. Competitor pages routinely print a twenty-four-hour or twenty-four to forty-eight-hour Michigan entry rule; there is no Michigan source for it, and at least one ranker is honest enough to label it a recommendation. The form above therefore asks you to choose a period, and the generated lease creates it as an enforceable contractual term with an emergency exception.

Two outer limits still bind whatever the lease says. MCL 600.2918(2) makes unlawful interference with a tenant’s possessory interest actionable, and MCL 554.139(1)(a) preserves the covenant that the premises and all common areas are fit for their intended use. See Michigan landlord entry laws, and document each visit with a dated Michigan notice to enter form.

MCL 554.139(1) implies into every lease or license of residential premises two covenants by the lessor: that the premises and all common areas are fit for the use intended by the parties, and that the lessor will keep the premises in reasonable repair during the term and comply with the applicable health and safety laws of the state and of the local unit of government — except where the disrepair or violation has been caused by the tenant’s wilful or irresponsible conduct or lack of conduct.

MCL 554.139(2) carries a qualifier that summaries usually drop: the parties may modify those obligations, but only where the lease has a current term of at least one year. A month-to-month or short fixed-term Michigan tenancy therefore has covenants that cannot be modified at all. And even on a long lease the room to manoeuvre is narrow, because MCL 554.633(1)(a) separately voids any provision waiving or altering the remedy available for a breach.

MCL 554.139(3) adds that the section is to be liberally construed and that a prospective tenant’s privilege of inspecting the premises before signing does not defeat the benefit of the covenants. Signing after a walk-through waives nothing. Separately, MCL 554.201 lets a tenant who is not at fault quit and surrender possession, and stop paying rent for the period afterwards, where the building is destroyed or so injured as to be untenantable and no express written agreement says otherwise. More at our Michigan habitability laws guide.

Michigan has no residential late-fee statute and no statutory grace period. A late fee