Leaving A Lease Early
MCL 554.601b — release from rent for a tenant in danger from domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking
A tenant who has a reasonable apprehension of present danger to the tenant or the tenant's child from domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking is released from the obligation to pay rent after giving the landlord written notice of the intent to seek the release, by certified mail, with a written statement of that apprehension and written documentation of it. The documentation can be 1 or more of these:
- A valid personal protection order or foreign protection order, or an order removing an abusive person from the home, still in effect on the day it is submitted.
- A valid probation, conditional release or parole order still in effect, with conditions to protect the tenant or child, such as no contact.
- A written police report that led the prosecutor to file charges. Where the charges were filed more than 14 days before the notice, the tenant also shows a verifiable threat of present danger, and the verified form below counts as that showing.
- A report in the form the section sets out, signed by the tenant under penalty of perjury and verified by a qualified third party: a sexual assault or domestic violence counselor, a licensed or registered health professional, a mental health professional, or a member of the clergy affiliated with a tax exempt religious institution.
When the rent stops. The tenant is released from paying rent no later than the first day of the second month that rent is due after notice is given, but not before the tenant moves out. The release does not reach prepaid amounts, such as first and last months' rent, and the landlord may still withhold from the security deposit as the deposit law allows.
The landlord may share a forwarding address the tenant gives only as reasonably necessary for ordinary business, and may not intentionally reveal it or the documentation to the person the tenant named as the source of the danger. Where the lease binds several tenants, the others stay bound when one is released. If the lease does not carry the section's notice of this right, the landlord posts the notice in the property management office or delivers it when the lease is signed.
Separately, a lease must let a tenant who has occupied the unit for more than 13 months end it with 60 days' written notice if, during the lease, the tenant becomes eligible to move into a subsidized unit in senior citizen housing and gives written proof, or becomes unable to live independently, as a physician certifies in a notarized statement.
Both sections apply only to leases entered into, renewed or renegotiated after they took effect. What a landlord can recover from a tenant who leaves early for any other reason is not covered here.
Sources for this section (2)
- MCL 554.601b — Release from rent for a tenant in danger from domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking
- MCL 554.601a — Ending a lease for senior housing or inability to live independently
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Michigan attorney.