4.2Bases for the Initiation of Summary Proceedings
MCL 600.5714 authorizes the initiation of summary proceedings when a tenant holds over possession of premises after the time stated in a demand for possession issued pursuant to MCL 600.5714 or after the time stated in a notice to quit issued pursuant to MCL 554.134.1 See generally, MCL 600.5714.
A demand for possession of premises is governed by MCL 600.5716 (form and content of a demand for possession) and MCL 600.5718 (service of a demand for possession).2 The requirements contained in MCL 600.5716 and MCL 600.5718 cannot be waived in a residential lease. MCL 554.633(1)(j).
A notice to quit is the method by which three types of tenancies may be terminated, MCL 554.134(1)-(3),3 and MCL 600.5714(1)(c)(iii) authorizes the initiation of summary proceedings when a tenant fails to comply with the time period stated in a notice to quit. There are no statutory guidelines for the content or service of a notice to quit. Additionally, MCL 554.134 does not contain a remedy for situations in which a tenant fails to comply with a notice to quit. The remedy for those situations is found in MCL 600.5714(1)(c)(iii), which authorizes the initiation of summary proceedings when a tenant fails to comply with the time period stated in a notice to quit under MCL 554.134.
A.After Service of a Notice to Quit or a Demand for Possession
1.Tenancy at Will or by Sufferance
A tenancy at will or a tenancy by sufferance may be terminated by a one-month notice to quit. MCL 554.134(1). If rent is payable at intervals of less than three months, the time of notice is sufficient if it equals the interval between rent payments. Id. Summary proceedings may be initiated if the tenant has failed to vacate the premises by the date specified in the notice to quit. MCL 600.5714(1)(c)(iii).
“If a tenant neglects or refuses to pay rent due under a lease at will or otherwise, the landlord may terminate the tenancy by giving the tenant a written seven-day notice to quit.” MCL 554.134(2). See also MCL 600.5714(1)(a) (seven-day demand for possession for failure to pay rent). Both MCL 554.134(2) (notice to quit) and MCL 600.5714(1)(a) (demand for possession) contain language applicable to situations involving a tenant’s failure to pay rent. Summary proceedings may be initiated if the tenant has failed to pay the rent due and has failed to vacate the premises by the end of the seven-day notice to quit or demand for possession. MCL 600.5714(1)(a) (demand for possession for failure to pay rent); MCL 600.5714(1)(c)(iii) (notice to quit for failure to pay rent). For purposes of MCL 600.5714(1)(a), “rent due does not include any accelerated indebtedness because of a breach of the lease under which the premises are held.” MCL 600.5714(1)(a).
MCL 600.5744(7) expressly permits a tenant to retain possession of the premises by paying the amount of rent due plus taxed costs within the time specified in a possession judgment based on a tenant’s nonpayment of rent. See MCL 600.5741 (court must calculate amount of rent in arrears to be stated in judgment of possession).
A year-to-year tenancy may be terminated by either party at any time by giving the other party a one-year notice to quit. MCL 554.134(3). Summary proceedings may be initiated if the tenant has not vacated the premises by the end of the one-year notice. MCL 600.5714(1)(c)(iii).
4.Lease Provision Prohibiting Controlled Substance Offenses
A landlord may give a tenant a written 24-hour notice to quit following termination of a lease pursuant to a clause in the lease prohibiting a tenant, a member of a tenant’s household, or other person under the tenant’s control from manufacturing, delivering, possessing, or possessing with the intent to deliver a controlled substance classified in schedule 1, 2, or 3 on the leased premises. MCL 554.134(4). See also MCL 600.5714(1)(b) (demand for possession for controlled substance offenses), which contains substantially similar language. Summary proceedings may be initiated if the tenant has not vacated the premises within 24 hours of receiving the notice to quit. MCL 554.134(4) (notice to quit for controlled substance offenses); MCL 600.5714(1)(c)(iii) (summary proceedings for tenant’s failure to comply with notice to quit for controlled substance offenses). See also MCL 600.5714(1)(b) (demand for possession for controlled substance offenses).4 Summary proceedings may be initiated only if a formal police report alleging that the person has engaged in the unlawful conduct has been filed. MCL 554.134(4). See also MCL 600.5714(1)(b) (demand for possession for controlled substance offenses).
5.Continuing Health Hazard on, or Physical Injury to, the Premises
A landlord may make a written seven-day demand for possession of the premises when a tenant “willfully or negligently causes a serious and continuing health hazard to exist on the premises, or causes extensive and continuing physical injury to the premises[.]” MCL 600.5714(1)(d). Summary proceedings may be initiated if the tenant fails “to deliver up possession of the premises or to substantially restore or repair the premises” within seven days of receiving the demand for possession, as long as summary proceedings are initiated no later than 90 days after the landlord discovered or should have discovered the condition of the premises. Id. (Emphasis added).
6.Causing or Threatening to Cause Physical Injury to an Individual
Under certain conditions, a landlord may serve a written seven-day notice to quit on a tenant “after the tenant, a member of the tenant’s household, or a person under the tenant’s control, on real property owned or operated by the tenant’s landlord, has caused or threatened physical injury to an individual.” MCL 600.5714(1)(e). Summary proceedings may be initiated if the tenant fails to vacate the premises within seven days of receiving the notice to quit. Id. Summary proceedings may be initiated “only if the police department with jurisdiction has been notified that the person, on real property owned or operated by the tenant’s landlord, caused or threatened physical injury to an individual.” Id. MCL 600.5714(1)(e) does not apply if the tenant or a member of the tenant’s household is the person injured or threatened or if federal housing regulations would be violated by application of this section.5 MCL 600.5714(1)(e)(i)-(ii).
B.No Notice to Quit or Demand for Possession Required Before Initiating Summary Proceedings
In some circumstances, it is not necessary for a landlord to serve a tenant with a notice to quit or a demand for possession before initiating summary proceedings to recover possession of the premises.6
Committee Tip:
The fact that no formal notice to quit or demand for possession is required in the situations below does not mean that a landlord may take immediate possession of the premises. The landlord must initiate summary proceedings in order to recover possession, and the court must determine whether the landlord is lawfully entitled to possession of the premises under the circumstances.
Summary proceedings may be initiated when a tenant holds over his or her possession of the premises “[a]fter the term for which the premises are demised to the person or to the person under whom he or she holds.”7 MCL 600.5714(1)(c)(ii) (emphasis added).
Summary proceedings may be initiated “[w]hen a person takes possession of premises by means of a forcible entry, holds possession of premises by force after a peaceable entry, or comes into possession of premises by trespass without color of title or other possessory interest.” MCL 600.5714(1)(f). “This remedy is in addition to the remedy of entry permitted under [MCL 600.5711(3)].” MCL 600.5714(1)(f).
3.After Sale of Premises by Mortgage or by Execution
Summary proceedings may be initiated “[w]hen a person continues in possession of premises sold by virtue of a mortgage or execution, after the time limited by law for redemption of the premises.” MCL 600.5714(1)(g) (emphasis added).
4.After Sale Authorized by Probate Court or by Will
Summary proceedings may be initiated “[w]hen a person continues in possession of premises sold and conveyed by a personal representative under license from the probate court or under authority in the will.” MCL 600.5714(1)(h) (emphasis added).
Summary proceedings may be initiated when a tenant holds over his or her possession of the premises after the lease is terminated by “a power to terminate provided in the lease or implied by law.” MCL 600.5714(1)(c)(i) (emphasis added). While there is no statutory requirement of notice, the notice requirement should be contained in the lease itself. A power to terminate included in a lease must clearly indicate what action or omission by the tenant permits the landlord to elect such a remedy, and the lease must specify the notice of termination to which the tenant is entitled. Erickson v Bay City Glass Co, 6 Mich App 260, 265 (1967).
D.Form, Content, and Service of Notice to Quit or Demand for Possession
With the exception of MCL 554.134(2), which requires a written notice to quit for nonpayment of rent, MCL 554.134 does not specify the form or content required of a notice to quit.
In contrast, MCL 600.5716 specifies the form and content of a demand for possession.8 A demand for possession must:
•be in writing,
•be addressed to the tenant,
•contain the address or a brief description of the premises,
•clearly state the reasons for the demand,
•clearly state the time allowed for remedial action, and
•“be dated and signed by the person entitled to possession, his [or her] attorney or agent.”
“When nonpayment of rent or other sums due under the lease is claimed, the amount due at the time of the demand shall be stated.” MCL 600.5716.
MCL 554.134 does not specify a required method of service for a notice to quit. However, the methods of service reflected on the applicable SCAO Form DC 100c, Notice to Quit to Recover Possession of Property/Landlord-Tenant, mirror several of the service methods expressly stated in MCL 600.5718(1) for service of a demand for possession under the Summary Proceedings Act. MCL 600.5718(1) requires that service of the demand for possession be accomplished by:
•personal delivery to the tenant, MCL 600.5718(1)(a),
•personal delivery on the premises to a member of the tenant’s family or household or an employee, who is of suitable age and discretion, with instructions to deliver it to the tenant, MCL 600.5718(1)(b),
•first-class mail addressed to the tenant, MCL 600.5718(1)(c), or
•electronic service, “if [the tenant] has in writing specifically consented to electronic service of the demand and if the consent or confirmation of the consent has been sent by 1 party and affirmatively replied to, by electronic transmission, by the other party.” MCL 600.5718(1)(d).
Note: Different requirements apply to service of the summons and complaint initiating summary proceedings to recover possession of the premises. See Section 4.4(D).
“If the demand is mailed, the date of service . . . is the next regular day for delivery of mail after the day when it was mailed.”MCL 600.5718(1)(c).
The use of electronic service under MCL 600.5718(1)(d) is subject to MCL 600.5718(2), which provides:
“The electronic service address used by a party in the process under [MCL 600.5718(1)(d)] shall be considered to remain that party’s correct, functioning electronic service address, unless the process under [MCL 600.5718(1)(d)] is repeated using a different electronic service address for that party or unless that party notifies the other in writing that that party no longer has an electronic service address. A landlord shall not refuse to enter a lease because the prospective tenant declines to consent to electronic service under [MCL 600.5718].”