Answer the questions, download the lease. Free, no account, and it holds your figures to what Michigan allows.
What Michigan law does to your lease
These are the figures the builder holds you to. Each one is the statute's, not ours, and the citation is there so you can read it yourself.
| Rule | Michigan | Where it says so |
|---|
| Most a landlord may take as a deposit | 1.5 months' rent | MCL 554.602 |
| Earliest a late fee may be charged | not sourced yet | - |
| Most a late fee may be | not sourced yet | - |
| Notice before the landlord may enter | not sourced yet | - |
| Notice to end a month-to-month tenancy | 30 daysOne month, or the interval between rent days where rent is payable more often than quarterly. The notice ends the tenancy at the end of a period of that length, whatever date it names. | MCL 554.134(1) |
What Michigan makes you disclose
- Truth in Renting notice
- The lease must give the name and address for notices to the landlord, and carry this notice in a prominent place in at least 12-point type: 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. MCL 554.634
- Where the deposit is held, and the forwarding address
- Within 14 days of the tenant taking possession the landlord must give, in writing, their own name and address for communications, the name and address of the financial institution or surety holding the deposit, and notice of the tenant's duty to give a forwarding address in writing within four days of moving out. MCL 554.603, 554.611
- Inventory checklists at both ends
- Where a deposit is taken the landlord must use inventory checklists at the start and the end of the tenancy, on identical forms, detailing the condition of everything the landlord owns in the unit, and must give the tenant two blank copies of the commencement checklist. MCL 554.608
The clause most landlords get wrong
Rent stated as a base figure with mandatory fees bolted on beside it. If a fee is not optional, it is rent, and several states now say so outright: the lease has to carry one total figure that the landlord may not charge above. The builder asks for the total and then asks how much of it is fees, which is the same information in the order the law wants it.
The second is the assistance animal. A no-pets clause that does not carve one out is a fair-housing problem, not a pet problem, and no pet rent or pet deposit may be charged for one. Your lease says so whether or not you allow pets.
After it is signed
Download the PDF and it is yours, account or not. If you want the tenant to sign it without printing anything, a free Kouzr account sends it for signature, files the executed copy against the tenancy, and keeps it beside the listing, the rent record and the deposit accounting, so the paperwork for that home is in one place when the tenancy ends.
Is this Michigan lease legally binding?
A written lease signed by the landlord and every adult tenant is a contract, and this one is built to say what Michigan requires a residential lease to say. What it is not is legal advice, and no lawyer has reviewed it. It is a form you complete yourself, the same category as the fill-in-the-blank lease sold in an office supply shop, and it is worth having a lawyer in your state read it before you rely on it, especially on a property you will hold for years.
How much can a landlord charge as a security deposit in Michigan?
Michigan caps every deposit taken together at 1.5 months' rent (MCL 554.602). That is the total of the security deposit, any pet deposit, and any last month's rent held as a deposit, not each of them separately. The builder holds your figure to that ceiling and tells you when it has.
Can a landlord charge a late fee in Michigan?
We have not sourced a late fee rule for Michigan. Several states set a grace period, a percentage ceiling, or both, and a fee a court finds punitive rather than compensatory is unenforceable in every state. Keep it to a reasonable estimate of what a late payment actually costs you.
How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering in Michigan?
We have not sourced an entry-notice rule for Michigan. Twenty-four hours is the most common requirement in the states that set one, and it is what the builder uses as a default, but confirm your state's before you rely on it. Emergencies need no notice anywhere.
How much notice ends a month-to-month tenancy in Michigan?
30 days of written notice from either side (MCL 554.134(1)). The builder writes that figure into the term clause. A lease may agree on longer notice than the statute; one that gives less is unenforceable to that extent, and the statutory period governs instead. One month, or the interval between rent days where rent is payable more often than quarterly. The notice ends the tenancy at the end of a period of that length, whatever date it names.
Do I have to include a lead-based paint disclosure?
Only if the home was built before 1978, and then yes, everywhere in the country. Federal law requires the landlord to disclose known lead-based paint, hand over any report they have, and give the tenant the EPA pamphlet before the tenant is committed to the lease (42 U.S.C. 4852d). Enter the year built and the builder attaches it for you.
Can I have the tenant sign it online?
Yes. Download the PDF and sign it however you like, or make a free Kouzr account and send it to the tenant for signature from here: they get a link, sign on a phone, and the executed copy files itself against the tenancy alongside rent and the deposit record. The PDF is free either way and does not require an account.
Kouzr is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. The builder produces a form you complete yourself, and no lawyer has reviewed the document it assembles. Have one admitted in Michigan read it before you rely on it.