Michigan's security deposit act, MCL 554.601 through 554.616, caps a residential deposit at one and a half months' rent, requires the landlord to mail an itemized list of damages within 30 days after occupancy ends, and requires you to give a written forwarding address within 4 days after you move out. Miss your four days and you lose the itemized list. Miss the thirty and the landlord owes the deposit back in full.
This is general information, not legal advice. It is written by a landlord and licensed Michigan broker, not an attorney. If money is at stake, see a Michigan attorney.
How much can a Michigan landlord charge?
No more than one and a half months' rent. MCL 554.602: a security deposit "shall not exceed 1 1/2 months' rent." A landlord wanting more from a weak-credit applicant can go to 1.5 months and no further, whatever the lease says.
MCL 554.601 defines the term at 554.601(d) as "a deposit, in any amount, paid by the tenant to the landlord or his or her agent to be held for the term of the rental agreement." The definition is written broadly, so what a lease calls a charge does not necessarily control how Michigan law treats it. The 1.5 month cap applies to the total, not to whichever line item the lease labels a deposit.
Note the subsection letter. Act 348 of 1972 was amended effective April 2, 2025, and the definitions were re-lettered. The security deposit definition is now at 554.601(d), not (e). Older articles, older forms and older leases cite (e), and (e) is now the senior citizen housing definition. The current lettering runs (a) landlord, (b) rental agreement, (c) rental unit, (d) security deposit, (e) senior citizen housing, (f) source of income, which is new, and (g) tenant.
And you cannot sign these rights away. MCL 554.606 is an anti-waiver clause, not a coverage clause: "The requirements of this act may not be waived by the parties to a rental agreement except as specifically provided herein." A lease term purporting to waive your deposit rights is void. If a lease in front of you says you agree to forfeit a deposit, or waives the itemized list, that clause does not do what it claims.
What must the landlord tell you within 14 days?
Three things in writing, within 14 days after you take possession. MCL 554.603 requires the landlord's name and address for communications, the name and address of the financial institution or surety required by section 4, and a 12 point boldface warning about the 4-day forwarding address rule.
The part renters miss is the last sentence: if the landlord fails to provide this, the tenant is relieved of the forwarding-address obligation. Keep the notice.
Whose money is it while the landlord holds it?
Yours. MCL 554.605: "the security deposit is considered the lawful property of the tenant until the landlord establishes a right to the deposit or portions thereof." That is the act's backbone. MCL 554.604 requires it be "deposited in a regulated financial institution," unless bonded with the Secretary of State.
What can a landlord actually deduct?
Two categories and nothing else. MCL 554.607 limits the deposit to "actual damages... that are the direct result of conduct not reasonably expected in the normal course of habitation of a dwelling," plus rent in arrearage, rent for premature termination, and unpaid utility bills.
That first phrase does the work of what everyone calls normal wear and tear. Carpet worn where people walked is habitation. A hole in a door is not.
Why does the move-in checklist decide the argument?
MCL 554.608 requires the landlord to give you two blank copies of an identical inventory checklist at lease start, covering "carpeting, draperies, appliances, windows, furniture, walls, closets, shelves, paint, doors, plumbing fixtures and electrical fixtures." You have 7 days to note condition and return one copy.
Fill it in specifically and photograph everything the same day. I have been on the landlord side of many of these. The tenant with a returned checklist and dated photographs wins almost every disputed deduction. The one with neither loses.
What is the 4-day forwarding address rule?
MCL 554.611: notify the landlord in writing "within 4 days after termination of his occupancy" of an address where communications can be received. Failure "relieves the landlord of the requirement of notice of damages but does not prejudice a tenant's subsequent claim for the security deposit."
Four days is short and runs from the end of occupancy. Keep proof of mailing.
One wrinkle worth understanding: 554.611 says send notice to "the address given under section 4," while MCL 554.612 points to the "address provided by the landlord as required by section 3." Those do not line up, and section 3 is the one that makes sense.
Section 4 is MCL 554.604, the financial institution and bond provision. It contains no landlord address at all. Section 3 is MCL 554.603, which requires the landlord to disclose "the landlord's name and address for receipt of communications under this act." The "section 4" reference in 554.611 is read as a scrivener's error. Both provisions are understood to point to the section 554.603 address.
There is a useful asymmetry here. MCL 554.603 says that a landlord's failure to give you that notice "relieves the tenant of his obligation relative to notification of the landlord of his forwarding mailing address." If you never got the 14-day notice, the 4-day clock is not your problem.
If you did get it, send to the address in that notice. If you have two addresses and are not sure, send to both. Two envelopes is cheaper than the argument.
What is the 30-day rule?
MCL 554.609 is where most disputes turn. Within 30 days after occupancy ends, a landlord claiming damages must mail an itemized list "including the estimated cost of repair of each property damaged item and the amounts and bases on which he intends to assess the tenant."
It must arrive with a check for the difference between the damages claimed and the deposit held, not a promise to send one, and cannot include damages claimed before your occupancy. It must carry this in 12 point boldface: "You must respond to this notice by mail within 7 days after receipt of same, otherwise you will forfeit the amount claimed."
Miss the 30 days and the landlord loses. MCL 554.610 makes that failure an "agreement by the landlord that no damages are due," requiring him to "remit to the tenant immediately the full security deposit."
How do you respond, and what are the penalties?
MCL 554.612 gives you 7 days to respond by ordinary mail, "indicating in detail his agreement or disagreement to the damage charges listed." Date of mailing counts, and detail beats a flat denial.
MCL 554.613 then gives the landlord 45 days to sue or return the balance. He generally cannot keep a portion without a judgment or without meeting statutory conditions, which include your failure to give a forwarding address, your failure to respond, a written agreement, and claims solely for unpaid rent.
The teeth are in 554.613(2): "Failure of the landlord to comply fully with this section constitutes waiver of all claimed damages and makes him liable to the tenant for double the amount of the security deposit retained." Under MCL 554.615, "any affected individual" may sue to enforce the act.
Do double damages require bad faith?
No. The statute contains no bad-faith, willfulness, or intent element. It is strict liability for a procedural failure. A landlord who simply missed a deadline is exposed the same way as one who tried to keep your money, and "we were busy" is not a defense written into the act.
There is one real limit on that, and it cuts the other way. The double-damages remedy attaches to a failure to comply with section 613 itself, not to any landlord misstep anywhere in the act. See Tree City Properties LLC v Perkey, published, Michigan Court of Appeals No. 339539, decided March 7, 2019. So identify which section was breached before you assume the doubling applies.
Because the deposit is capped at 1.5 months' rent under MCL 554.602, the doubled figure is capped in practice at three months' rent.
Where do you actually file?
Michigan small claims court handles claims up to $7,000, a limit in effect since January 1, 2024 under MCL 600.8401. On a Plymouth-area deposit, a doubled claim of roughly $3,000 to $3,400 fits inside that comfortably.
The tradeoff is real and worth knowing before you choose small claims. Filing there means waiving a jury trial, waiving the right to be represented by an attorney, and waiving appeal. Either party may also remove the case to the general civil docket, which puts attorneys back in the room. If the amount is near the ceiling or the facts are contested, this is the point to talk to a Michigan attorney rather than the point to save a filing fee.
What does the whole act look like as a timeline?
| When | Who | Requirement | MCL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lease start | Landlord | Two blank identical checklists | 554.608 |
| +7 days | Tenant | Return one completed checklist | 554.608 |
| +14 days | Landlord | Written notice: address, bank, boldface warning | 554.603 |
| Throughout | Landlord | Held in a regulated institution, or bonded | 554.604 |
| 4 days after move-out | Tenant | Written forwarding address | 554.611 |
| 30 days after move-out | Landlord | Itemized list plus check for the difference | 554.609 |
| If that is missed | Landlord | Remit the full deposit immediately | 554.610 |
| 7 days after that notice | Tenant | Detailed response, ordinary mail | 554.612 |
| 45 days after move-out | Landlord | Sue, or return the balance | 554.613 |
| On non-compliance | Landlord | Waives damages, owes double the amount kept | 554.613 |
If the building is sold, MCL 554.614 keeps the original landlord liable until the deposit is transferred and you are notified, or returned. MCL 554.616 covers leases made, renewed, or renegotiated after April 1, 1973.
What does the law not do for you?
It does not cap the deposit at one month. It caps it at one and a half, and many Michigan landlords lawfully charge the maximum.
It does not define normal wear and tear, which is why your checklist and photographs matter more than your reading of the statute.
It does not collect for you. Even with a clean double-damages case, you file and appear.
How does this work at our buildings?
At Z on Plymouth and Z on Coolidge the deposit equals one month's rent, below the 1.5 month ceiling. It can be higher for challenged credit, up to that ceiling and no further, and is fully refundable if the unit is returned in original condition, normal wear and tear excepted. The $65 application fee is a screening fee, not a deposit, and the $1,000 holding deposit is credited toward total move-in costs owed rather than held as a separate charge. See our move-in costs guide.
Frequently asked questions
How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Michigan?
No more than one and a half months' rent. MCL 554.602 states a security deposit "shall not exceed 1 1/2 months' rent." That ceiling applies regardless of credit or what the lease says.
How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Michigan?
If damages are claimed, MCL 554.609 requires an itemized list plus a check for the difference within 30 days after occupancy ends. Under MCL 554.610, missing that deadline means remitting the full deposit immediately.
What if I do not give my landlord a forwarding address?
MCL 554.611 requires one in writing within 4 days after occupancy ends. Failing to give it relieves the landlord of the duty to send an itemized list of damages, but does not prejudice your later claim for the deposit.
Can a Michigan landlord keep my deposit for normal wear and tear?
No. MCL 554.607 limits deductions to damages "that are the direct result of conduct not reasonably expected in the normal course of habitation," plus rent arrears and unpaid utility bills.
What is the penalty if a Michigan landlord wrongly keeps a deposit?
MCL 554.613 requires the landlord to sue or return the balance within 45 days after occupancy ends. Failure to comply fully waives all claimed damages and makes him liable for double the amount kept.
Do Michigan double damages require proving the landlord acted in bad faith?
No. MCL 554.613 contains no bad-faith, willfulness or intent element. It is strict liability for a procedural failure. The remedy attaches to a failure to comply with section 613 itself, not to any landlord misstep. See Tree City Properties LLC v Perkey, published, Mich Ct App No. 339539, March 7, 2019.
Can I sue over a security deposit in Michigan small claims court?
Yes. The Michigan small claims limit has been $7,000 since January 1, 2024 under MCL 600.8401, and a doubled Plymouth-area deposit fits well inside it. Small claims means waiving a jury trial, waiving the right to an attorney, and waiving appeal. Either party may remove the case to the general civil docket.
Can a lease waive Michigan security deposit rights?
No. MCL 554.606 states that the requirements of the act "may not be waived by the parties to a rental agreement except as specifically provided herein." A lease clause purporting to waive the itemized list, the deadlines, or the deposit itself is void.
Ready to sign a lease where the deposit terms are written down plainly? Schedule a tour.
Last verified: September 2026
Sources: MCL 554.601 · MCL 554.606 · MCL 554.602 · MCL 554.603 · MCL 554.604 · MCL 554.605 · MCL 554.607 · MCL 554.608 · MCL 554.609 · MCL 554.610 · MCL 554.611 · MCL 554.612 · MCL 554.613 · MCL 554.614 · MCL 554.615 · MCL 554.616 · MCL 600.8401 and the Michigan District Court Benchbook (small claims limit) · Tree City Properties LLC v Perkey, Mich Ct App No. 339539 (published, March 7, 2019) · Michigan Legislature
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