Can a domestic violence victim end a lease early in Michigan?

In Michigan, a tenant with a reasonable apprehension of present danger to the tenant or the tenant’s child from domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking is released from paying rent no later than the first day of the second month that rent is due after the tenant sends written notice by certified mail with a written statement and documentation. Documentation is one or more of: a valid personal protection order or foreign protection order, or an order removing an abusive person from the home, still in effect; a valid probation, conditional release or parole order still in effect with conditions such as no contact with the tenant or child; a written police report that resulted in charges filed not more than 14 days before the notice (or more than 14 days before, if the tenant also shows a verifiable threat of present danger); or a report in the statutory form verified by a qualified third party, meaning a sexual assault or domestic violence counselor, a licensed or registered health professional, a mental health professional, or clergy of a listed tax-exempt religious institution. The release does not take effect before the tenant vacates and does not apply to prepaid amounts such as first and last months’ rent, and the landlord may still withhold the security deposit as the security deposit law allows. The landlord may not intentionally reveal the tenant’s forwarding address or documentation to the person the tenant identified as the source of the danger. Other tenants on the same rental agreement remain bound by it. The lease may carry the statutory notice of these rights; if it does not, the landlord must post it in the property management office or deliver it when the lease is signed. This is MCL 554.601b.

WhatMichigan
Ending the lease earlyCertified-mail notice; rent ends by the 2nd month

What the statute says

“For purposes of releasing a tenant from his or her obligation to pay rent, the tenant is released from an obligation to pay rent no later than the first day of the second month that rent is due after notice is given.”

Quoted word for word from the section’s text.

Source

MCL 554.601b

Read the statute in the Michigan Compiled Laws (Michigan Legislature): legislature.mi.gov.

Checked against the statute on November 15, 2026.

This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.

How Seayora uses this rule

Seayora keeps every lease’s term, rent and signers in one record and dates every change to it. This page states the state’s rule so a lease’s own early-termination and sublet clauses can be checked against it before the lease is signed.

Guides on this rule

Compare this rule in every state

More Michigan rules

The same question in other states

Related