[MissRaven31]

Hello there.

I am currently renting 1 room out of 4 in a family owned home (Midland County), so there is a live in landlord (however common areas are NOT shared. The 4 tenants have separate common area from the family (bathroom/kitchen set up) upstairs).

First off, I had a family incident happen (a death) that influenced me to return back home to be there for my mother. That aside, I gave my landlord a notice via text followed by a written notice a few days following (via certified mail). My lease says nothing about breaking the lease OR subletting, but regardless I gave them a total of 81 days advanced notice because hurting them financially was not my goal! (I've never broken a lease, but this was my exception!).

After originally notifying her, LL became abrasive with me (I've always paid my rent early/am hardly ever home/never had issues, so abrasiveness due to my notice) and was not understanding whatsoever. I know LL is not obligated to understand. The point is LL began threatening me with court and saying things such as 'No offense, but I will have you served' and 'If you're smart you'll know I will win'. (LL is also a local officer). Shortly after that, LL began pushing a buyout of $1,200 upfront/at once AND keeping my security deposit. Regardless of the conversations or threats, I've remained polite and most of the exchange is via text, so I have proof. The ending of the conversation was basically pay up or go to court.

Well, after the original threats I began researching MI law regarding tenants/landlords/leases.

I did find out that my lease is violating the Michigan Security Deposit Act. It states that if my lease is broken my deposit is deemed non-refundable. I was also never given a move in check list, yet my deposit WAS required. I did not receive (even after request) the location/institution my deposit is being held. (I've lived here 3-4 months now). My lease does not state the tenant obligation to provide address 4 days upon moving.

My lease does not even state the required Truth In Renting Act statement.

The point: I included the requests to have the violations/illegal clauses fixed in my physical notice to quit (dated October 11th), received October 15th. All the LL has done is print off the Truth In Renting Act According to law, doesn't LL have to draft up a new lease with corrections? Does a paper satisfy this request?

What is the consequence of not giving me the location of my financial institution? Does not following the Security Deposit Act timeline/move in checklist mean I should get my deposit back immediately?

If so... what process must I begin?

(I've also been doing everything possible to mitigate damages! Asking around, daily online posting, flyers. As far as I know/seen LL has done nothing and told me it was MY responsibility.)

[MikeBear]

I live in Midland County. Contact the 75th District Count as they handle issues such as this. They can be very helpful. Just explain your story as best you can, and ask them what your rights are in this matter. Don't embellish, just straight-forward facts. Don't volunteer too much, but if they ask additional questions, answer them as best you can. If your landlord has or is doing anything wrong, they'll come down on her pretty hard, as they take a very dim view of that around here. Conversely, they can tell you if you need to cut your losses, and just how to handle that legally.

County of Midland, Michigan > Courts > 75th District Court > Civil Department > Landlord/Tenant

Also read this: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Landlord__Tenant_Guide_10-2005_142052_7.pdf

[MissRaven31]

Thank you very much. I may just take a drive there to get this all settled out. I have documents as well as the laws highlighted, etc. Do you personally recommend just calling them via phone or in person?

[MissRaven31]

Also, thank you for linking the PDF. I've scoured multiple versions of the same document. It's just very vague on Security Deposit violations, but it seems it all applies regardless as being a clause violation.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by MissRaven31

Hello there.

I am currently renting 1 room out of 4 in a family owned home (Midland County), so there is a live in landlord (however common areas are NOT shared. The 4 tenants have separate common area from the family (bathroom/kitchen set up) upstairs).

First off, I had a family incident happen (a death) that influenced me to return back home to be there for my mother. That aside, I gave my landlord a notice via text followed by a written notice a few days following (via certified mail). My lease says nothing about breaking the lease OR subletting, but regardless I gave them a total of 81 days advanced notice because hurting them financially was not my goal! (I've never broken a lease, but this was my exception!).

After originally notifying her, LL became abrasive with me (I've always paid my rent early/am hardly ever home/never had issues, so abrasiveness due to my notice) and was not understanding whatsoever. I know LL is not obligated to understand. The point is LL began threatening me with court and saying things such as 'No offense, but I will have you served' and 'If you're smart you'll know I will win'. (LL is also a local officer). Shortly after that, LL began pushing a buyout of $1,200 upfront/at once AND keeping my security deposit. Regardless of the conversations or threats, I've remained polite and most of the exchange is via text, so I have proof. The ending of the conversation was basically pay up or go to court.

Well, after the original threats I began researching MI law regarding tenants/landlords/leases.

I did find out that my lease is violating the Michigan Security Deposit Act. It states that if my lease is broken my deposit is deemed non-refundable. I was also never given a move in check list, yet my deposit WAS required. I did not receive (even after request) the location/institution my deposit is being held. (I've lived here 3-4 months now). My lease does not state the tenant obligation to provide address 4 days upon moving.

My lease does not even state the required Truth In Renting Act statement.

The point: I included the requests to have the violations/illegal clauses fixed in my physical notice to quit (dated October 11th), received October 15th. All the LL has done is print off the Truth In Renting Act According to law, doesn't LL have to draft up a new lease with corrections? Does a paper satisfy this request?

What is the consequence of not giving me the location of my financial institution? Does not following the Security Deposit Act timeline/move in checklist mean I should get my deposit back immediately?

If so... what process must I begin?

(I've also been doing everything possible to mitigate damages! Asking around, daily online posting, flyers. As far as I know/seen LL has done nothing and told me it was MY responsibility.)

I hate to say it, but you probably shouldn't have given the landlord so much notice. It was the nice and decent thing to do, but LL doesn't quite sound like a nice and decent landlord.

Also, finding someone to take over renting the place is NOT your responsibility, unless you agreed to it via contract.

In my mind, what you are doing is "violating the lease terms", but really your responsibility for damages is just the security deposit. So let them have it.

If you want to play hardball with this landlord and don't want them to have the security deposit (seriously, good luck getting that back even if you were to win in court), then take your security deposit out of your "buyout" of the remainder of the lease (assuming it's one month's rent). Give them a breakdown of your buyout with the security deposit taken out. Just stay within the law but play hardball. By the time the eviction notice is served, and you're forced to evict, it'll be the end of your lease time anyway.

But that's just me. It may or may not be a good idea to take legal advice on an anonymous discussion board.

[MikeBear]

Originally Posted by MissRaven31

Thank you very much. I may just take a drive there to get this all settled out. I have documents as well as the laws highlighted, etc. Do you personally recommend just calling them via phone or in person?

I would call them on the phone first, and give them the overview. If they'd like you to come in to do anything face to face, they'll let you know. I'm sure they are kept pretty busy, so it makes more sense to just try calling first.

[MissRaven31]

I did contact them and they basically informed me the usual 'contact an attorney, etc'.

As far as the security deposit, it can be taken as last months rent. The way things appear now is I leave and if I get sued I counter sue... I don't see myself getting a deposit back. Nothing legal has been followed on the timeline the act instates.

[MissRaven31]

I did not agree to it via contract either as far as subletting. Honestly the lease only states I owe rent on the first, the term of the rent and the illegal clause of forfeiting the deposit if the term is not completed. Other then that just 'don't do this in the house' stuff. Nothing else financial besides 50 dollar late fee per week that rent is not paid on time.

[dragon_fly_12]

Does the lease contract have a term limit (3 mth lease, 1 year lease, etc?) .. or is it month to month?

This is the biggest question that needs to get answered.

Highlighting the technicalities of why the lease does not meet the law matter not if you're breaking a contractual 1 yr lease. However, this is a good time to chime in that the MI Landlord-tenant law also states a deposit cannot exceed 1.5 times the monthly rent in dollar amount.

If the lease term is not specified on the contract, as in there are no "start" and "end" dates, then it is assumed to be a MONTH TO MONTH lease and you're only obligated to give the LL "reasonable" notice of your intent to vacate. 81 days would be deemed sufficient since the common time frames are 30-60 days.

If the lease was broken, the LL can charge you for the remaining months on the lease, and once paid, give you a full return of the deposit (minus damages if applicable) OR take your deposit and settle the remaining dollar amount of the lease.

HOWEVER .. if the LL re-rents the space to a new tenant during the months that you would have been occupying it / have paid for, the MI L-T law also states you are entitled to a refund of overpayment.

The LL cannot legally charge 2 occupants for the same space.

So, if you pay for the month of October, November and December, but someone new moves in and occupies from mid Oct through January, the LL is LEGALLY obligated to fully refund the money you paid as of the start date of occupancy by the new tenant (prorated Oct, full amount Nov & Dec).


If the lease does not provision that you are allowed to sublet, that it is not a restriction the LL can enforce. If you take the time to sublet the room, that is your responsibility. If the LL is not going to allow you to sublet, then you have no responsibility to find a new tenant by you are financially responsible until the end of the lease term as previously mentioned.

[tjay]

It sounds like they definitely did not follow procedure on the Security Deposit. My old landlord did something similar and charged me a security deposit. Once I found out that he did not follow legal procedure I shortpaid my last month's rent by the security deposit. I also found out that the apartment he was renting me was most likely illegal. Meaning, it was not inspected by the township for renting (it was an apartment above his garage), and he did not claim it as an income on his taxes. Make sure that the operation your landlord is running is even legal....if it's not, he's probably not going to take you to court:} You could also threaten to tell the IRS of the unclaimed income if that were true. I know it's not fun, but you have to play just as dirty as they are. I sent this landlord a letter before I moved mentioning the unclaimed income to the IRS, the possibility of the apartment being illegal, the non compliance of procedure regarding the security deposit...and after I moved I never heard from that A-hole again.