Mich. Comp. Laws § § 554.612
Response to notice of damages.
Operative Text
Sec. 12. If a landlord claims damages to a rental unit and gives notice of damages as required, the tenant upon receipt of the list of damages shall respond by ordinary mail to the address provided by the landlord as required by section 3 within 7 days, indicating in detail his agreement or disagreement to the damage charges listed. For the purposes of this section the date of mailing shall be considered the date of the tenant's response.
Under MCL § 554.612, when a landlord provides a written notice of claimed damages to a rental unit, the tenant has a defined window to formally respond. The tenant must reply by ordinary mail within 7 days of receiving the damage list, addressing each charge in detail and indicating agreement or disagreement. The date the response is postmarked is treated as the official date of the tenant's reply.
Plain English — not legal advice.
Under MCL § 554.612, landlords who claim damages to a rental unit must provide a proper notice of damages and include a mailing address as required by Section 3 of the same statute. Compliant operators keep clear records of when and how the damage notice was sent and the address provided, since the tenant's 7-day response window is tied to receipt of that notice. Maintaining organized documentation of the entire notice-and-response process is a standard practice for operators managing security deposit disputes.
General guidance for property managers — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult an attorney for advice on your case.
MCL § 554.612 gives tenants the right to formally contest or agree to damage charges a landlord claims against them. Upon receiving the landlord's damage list, tenants generally have 7 days to send a detailed written response by ordinary mail to the address the landlord provided, and the postmark date counts as the response date. Tenants who believe a landlord's damage claims are improper may wish to consult a tenant-rights organization or review the broader MCL § 554.601 et seq. framework to understand how a timely response may factor into any subsequent dispute.
General guidance for tenants — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult a tenant-rights organization or attorney for advice on your case.
Generated October 13, 2026 — auto-generated, not yet human-reviewed. See /transparency for methodology.
Effective Timeline
References In
Rules and statutes that cite this regulation