Detroit tenant screening & landlord laws

Research did not turn up a Michigan statute or a currently enacted Detroit ordinance that caps tenant screening or rental application fees. That said, Detroit City Council has a proposed ordinance (introduced March 2026) that would add application-fee and pre-tenancy-fee regulation to the city's Fair Chance ordinance chapter — as of this writing it has only been referred for legal review and is not yet in effect, so it should be tracked rather than treated as current law.

Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act lists protected classes such as religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, height, weight, familial status, and marital status — it does not currently list criminal history. A statewide bill modeled on Detroit's approach, the Fair Chance Access to Housing Act (reintroduced in the 2025-2026 session as HB 5355 and a companion Senate bill), has not been enacted. Detroit itself, however, already has its own local rule: the city's Fair Chance Ordinance (Detroit City Code, Ch. 22, Art. VIII) generally requires landlords with five or more units to defer criminal history review until after a conditional decision, allow an individualized assessment and rehabilitation evidence, and provide adverse-action notice and dispute rights; landlords with smaller portfolios (under five units) are exempt. Violations can be reported to Detroit's Civil Rights, Inclusion, and Opportunity Department and may carry a misdemeanor penalty.

As of April 2, 2025, Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act — amended by House Bill 4062 of 2023 (Public Act 199 of 2024) — generally prohibits landlords with five or more rental units from discriminating against applicants or tenants based on lawful source of income, including housing choice vouchers, other rental subsidies, Social Security, SSI, veterans' benefits, or child support. Landlords with four or fewer units are exempt. This is a state-level protection; a search specifically for a Detroit municipal source-of-income ordinance did not find a separate Detroit ordinance layered on top of the state law — the state protection appears to be the operative rule inside city limits.

Federal law is the baseline here. Under FCRA Section 615(a), a landlord who takes adverse action based even in part on a consumer report generally must notify the applicant, name the reporting agency, and describe the applicant's rights to dispute the report. Confirm whether Michigan imposes separate statewide adverse-action requirements beyond FCRA, and confirm current Detroit municipal code for any notice and dispute steps that may apply during criminal-history screening.

Michigan's Landlord and Tenant Relationships Act sets several specific rules:

Detroit overhauled this program recently, so verify current details before relying on older guides. City Council passed a rental-ordinance reform in October 2024; BSEED piloted the new combined process from mid-February through May 2025 and completed a full rollout on May 1, 2025, per City of Detroit announcements. Under the current program:

Michigan has a state law that generally bars local governments from capping rent on private residential property: MCL 123.411 (originally 1988 PA 226, amended in 2018). Confirm any Detroit or Clark County local number marketed as a "Detroit rent cap" against current local law unless it is tied to a voluntary, incentive-based program (which the statute does still allow local governments to offer). Michigan has no statewide just-cause eviction requirement; standard summary-proceedings eviction procedures apply. Detroit does add one notable procedural protection: its Right to Counsel / Office of Eviction Defense program, enacted in 2022, generally provides appointed counsel to tenant households at or below roughly 200% of the federal poverty level in eviction cases filed in the 36th District Court. Separately, a Michigan bill that would have created a process to seal or expunge certain eviction records did not pass in the 2023-2024 session and was reintroduced in 2025-2026; confirm its current status and whether Michigan has any restriction on reporting eviction records in a consumer report beyond ordinary FCRA accuracy and dispute rules.

Detroit sits inside Wayne County, but Michigan's local-government structure differs from California's in a way that matters here: Michigan land outside of incorporated cities is organized into townships with their own governments, rather than "unincorporated county" areas administered directly by the county the way many California counties work. Detroit is a fully incorporated home-rule city. Confirm current Detroit municipal code for any tenant-screening or landlord requirements, including any Fair Chance Ordinance and BSEED rental program requirements. Confirm current Wayne County code for any additional tenant-screening or landlord obligations. Because there is no unincorporated area of Wayne County within Detroit's boundaries, that concept largely doesn't apply here the way it might in a California county. If you operate rental property in a Wayne County township outside Detroit's city limits, confirm that township's current ordinances before finalizing a screening policy.

Does Michigan cap how much I can charge for a security deposit?

Yes — under MCL 554.602, a security deposit generally cannot exceed one and one-half months' rent, statewide, including in Detroit.

Can Detroit landlords charge whatever rent increase they want?

In Detroit, Michigan state law (MCL 123.411) generally preempts local rent control.

Do I need city approval before renting out my Detroit property?

Generally yes — Detroit's BSEED rental program generally requires a valid Certificate of Compliance (following registration and a 15-point inspection) before a covered rental unit can be occupied or rent collected, per the city's Rental Certificate of Compliance page.

Is it legal to reject an applicant in Detroit because they have a housing voucher?

Since April 2, 2025, Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act generally prohibits landlords with five or more units from denying an applicant based on lawful source of income, including housing vouchers, statewide — including in Detroit. Landlords with four or fewer units are exempt from this state provision.

Screening decisions in Detroit sit at the intersection of federal FCRA rules, Michigan's statewide landlord-tenant and civil rights statutes, and Detroit's own Fair Chance Ordinance and rental registration program — getting the sequence and documentation right matters. Start a Detroit tenant screening with Checkr to help build a consistent, well-documented screening process, and consult your own counsel to confirm how these layered rules apply to your specific properties.

The resources and information provided here are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Always consult your own counsel for up-to-date legal advice and guidance related to your practices, needs, and compliance with applicable laws.