Residential Lease Execution Formalities in Michigan

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Writing threshold

Michigan has two one-year tests. MCL § 566.108 makes every lease for “a longer period than 1 year” void unless the lease, a note, or a memorandum is written and signed in the prescribed way. MCL § 566.106 similarly excludes only a lease for a term not exceeding one year from its written-conveyance rule.

MCL § 566.132(1)(a) adds a test measured from making: an agreement that, by its own terms, cannot be performed within one year from the date of agreement is void unless a written note or memorandum carries the authorized signature of the party against whom enforcement is sought. Thus, an exactly one-year occupancy term can still need writing if a delayed start makes the entire agreement incapable of completion within one year after making.

Required signatures and authority

For the lease-specific rule, MCL § 566.108 calls for the signature of the party by whom the lease is to be made—the lessor—or a person lawfully authorized by that party in writing. MCL § 566.106 likewise requires the party creating, granting, assigning, surrendering, or declaring the longer land interest to subscribe the writing, unless a signer acts under written authority.

The separate performance rule in MCL § 566.132 is framed differently: it asks for an authorized signature by the party to be charged. A mutually signed lease avoids having enforceability turn on which party's promise is being enforced.

Witness, acknowledgment, and notary

MCL § 566.108 requires a written, signed lease above its threshold, but it does not require a subscribing witness, acknowledgment, or notarization for ordinary validity between landlord and tenant.

Recording is separate. A lease longer than three years falls within MCL § 565.35's definition of a conveyance. MCL §§ 565.46 and 565.47 apply Chapter 565's proof and acknowledgment machinery to instruments affecting land and bar recording where a required acknowledgment or proof is missing.

Electronic execution

Michigan's Uniform Electronic Transactions Act covers transaction records and signatures under MCL § 450.833(1), outside the Act's listed exceptions. MCL § 450.835 requires each party to agree to transact electronically; agreement is determined from the context, surrounding circumstances, and conduct, and a party may refuse electronic form for other transactions.

MCL § 450.837 makes an electronic record satisfy a writing law and an electronic signature satisfy a signature law. Attribution still matters under MCL § 450.839: the electronic signature must be shown to be the person's act. If a writing must be delivered, MCL § 450.838 requires a record the recipient can print or store. Required retention under MCL § 450.842 must accurately preserve the final information and remain accessible for later reference.

Required copy or written statement

The current Truth in Renting Act, MCL §§ 554.631 through 554.641, sets no general deadline for delivering a fully executed copy of an ordinary residential lease. It does impose content rules on a covered written rental agreement.

MCL § 554.634 requires the agreement to state the name and address where notices under the Act are given to the lessor. It must also display the statutory Truth in Renting notice prominently in at least 12-point type or letters at least one-eighth inch high.

The Act's definition has a narrow exclusion. Under MCL § 554.632(a), a writing limited to basic items such as the parties, premises, rental period, rent amount, and payment times is not a “rental agreement” for this Act. An ordinary detailed written lease with additional terms is covered.

Renewal, modification, and term form

A renewal or extension that produces a term longer than one year must satisfy MCL § 566.108. The from-making rule in MCL § 566.132 independently applies when the renewed agreement cannot be completed within one year after it is made. Assignments and surrenders of a longer land interest also fall within MCL § 566.106's written-and-subscribed list.

Michigan also limits mid-lease changes. MCL § 554.633(1)(l) makes it prohibited for a rental agreement to let the lessor alter a provision after commencement without the tenant's written consent. An agreement may allow three specified categories of adjustment on at least 30 days' written notice: changes required by law; property rules required for health, safety, or peaceful enjoyment; and rent adjustments tied to listed increases in taxes, utilities, or insurance.

Recording and third-party effect

MCL § 565.35 excludes a lease not exceeding three years from the recording chapter's definition of a conveyance. A lease longer than three years is within the definition. Under MCL § 565.29, an unrecorded conveyance is void against a later purchaser in good faith for value whose conveyance is recorded first. MCL § 565.34 defines purchaser broadly enough to include an assignee of a lease.

That rule concerns later-party priority, not whether landlord and tenant made a contract between themselves. Chapter 565 contains no lease-specific short memorandum form comparable to statutes in some other states; a document offered for recording must instead satisfy Michigan's general acknowledgment, proof, and recording requirements. MCL § 565.844(2)-(5) permits a county register that has implemented electronic recording to accept electronic documents from a party with a verified transactional relationship, while continuing to accept paper.

Effect of noncompliance

MCL §§ 566.108 and 566.132 call a covered unwritten or unsigned agreement void. That is different from recording: under MCL § 565.29, nonrecording defeats the long lease only against the protected later good-faith purchaser who records first.

The Truth in Renting Act has its own consequences. A prohibited unilateral- change clause is void under MCL § 554.633(3). If a required MCL § 554.634 statement is missing, MCL § 554.635 lets the lessor cure by written notice. If the lessor does not cure within 20 days after the tenant's written notice, MCL § 554.636(2) permits the tenant to avoid the agreement, seek an injunction, and recover $500 or actual damages, whichever is greater; a prevailing party also recovers court costs and statutory attorney fees.

What trips people up

Exactly one year does not end the analysis. The lease-specific statute uses a term longer than one year, but the separate performance statute measures from the day the agreement is made. A delayed commencement can bring an exactly one-year occupancy term within the latter rule.

The mandatory statements are not an executed-copy deadline. Michigan tells a covered written lease what it must say, but the current Truth in Renting Act does not set a general number of days for handing the tenant a fully signed copy.

Three years is the recording line, not the validity line. The writing rule starts above one year. The recording chapter's conveyance definition begins above three years and protects against later purchasers rather than creating the landlord-tenant agreement.

Common questions

Can a Michigan lease for exactly one year be oral? It is outside MCL § 566.108's longer-than-one-year term line. If the agreement cannot be fully performed within one year from making, however, MCL § 566.132 still requires a written note or memorandum signed by the party to be charged.

Must both parties sign a long lease? MCL § 566.108 expressly asks for the signature of the party making the lease or an agent with written authority, and MCL § 566.132 asks for the signature of the party to be charged. Mutual signatures avoid a one-sided enforcement problem.

Does the lease need a notary? Not for ordinary validity under the statute of frauds. Acknowledgment or proof becomes relevant when a longer lease is offered for recording.

Can the landlord change the lease after it starts? A lease cannot authorize the landlord to alter it without the tenant's written consent, except for the three categories that MCL § 554.633(1)(l) permits on at least 30 days' written notice.

Statutes and sources

• MCL §§ 566.106, 566.108, and 566.132 — land-interest, lease-term, and one-year-from-making writing and signature rules. https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-566-108 (accessed 2026-07-29)
• MCL §§ 554.632-.636 — Truth in Renting scope, mandatory statements, written-consent modification rule, cure, and tenant remedies. https://legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-Act-454-of-1978.pdf (accessed 2026-07-29)
• MCL §§ 450.833, 450.835, 450.837-.839, and 450.842 — UETA scope, consent, electronic writing and signature, retainable delivery, attribution, and retention. https://legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-Act-305-of-2000.pdf (accessed 2026-07-29)
• MCL §§ 565.29, 565.34-.35, and 565.46-.47 — later-purchaser priority, three-year conveyance line, and recording proof or acknowledgment. https://legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-R-S-1846-565-1-65.pdf (accessed 2026-07-29)
• MCL § 565.201 — general instrument-recording requirements. https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-565-201 (accessed 2026-07-29)
• MCL § 565.844 — optional county electronic recording and verified- relationship rule. https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-565-844 (accessed 2026-07-29)