Tips for managing multiple rental properties: The systems that scale

Written by Samantha SheltonNMLS 1647301Updated October 2026

General information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Align Lending is a Michigan mortgage broker, not a property manager, a law firm or a registered investment adviser. Consult a Michigan attorney, a CPA and a licensed financial advisor.

Managing several rentals well is not working harder at each one. It is standardizing four things and repeating them at every door (one lease template, one written screening standard, one maintenance calendar, one set of books per property) because Michigan runs a separate 30-day security-deposit itemization clock at every one of them.

Scale also has edges you can count. Fannie Mae allows a borrower a maximum of 10 financed one- to four-unit properties when the loan is a second home or investment property run through Desktop Underwriter, and 6 manually underwritten. Reserves on other financed properties step up too: 2% of the aggregate unpaid principal balance at 1 to 4 properties, 4% at 5 to 6, and 6% at 7 to 10.

Learn which systems carry the weight as you add doors, when hiring out beats self-managing, and how financing changes once conventional guidelines run out. Setting up your first rental? Start with becoming a landlord; this post picks up at door two, and our rental property management hub covers the day-to-day.

Key takeaways:

• Standardize once, repeat everywhere: Michigan requires 2 blank commencement inventory checklists per tenancy, returned by the tenant within 7 days. Paperwork only survivable when the template is identical at every property.
• Books are per property, not per portfolio: The IRS depreciates residential rental property over 27.5 years, and lenders underwrite rental income at 75% of gross rent. Neither figure survives a commingled account.
• Financing has a countable ceiling: Conventional guidelines cap a borrower at 10 financed one- to four-unit properties on a second home or investment loan, the point where DSCR, non-QM and portfolio structures become the plan.

How does property management software help with multiple rentals?

It replaces memory with a system of record, the highest-leverage change most landlords make between door one and door five. By the third or fourth door, documents scatter and money commingles until per-door performance is a guess. Pick the feature list first, then move every property onto one product.

• Online rent collection with automatic late fees: Charges post on a schedule and fees apply by rule, not by your judgment in a given month, a fair-housing discipline, not a convenience.
• A tenant portal for maintenance tickets: Requests arrive time-stamped and in writing, which matters when a habitability question turns on when you were told.
• Screening against a saved standard: Criteria stored once, applied to every applicant identically.
• Document storage tied to the unit: Lease, addenda, checklists and inspection records attached to the property.
• Per-property accounting that exports: Income and expense tagged by property, in a format your tax preparer can use as-is.

Buildium, AppFolio, TenantCloud and Stessa are commonly used at different portfolio sizes; evaluate them against that list, not a comparison page. Two cautions: screening software is subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act and fair-housing law whatever a vendor claims about its algorithm, and software that recommends rents from pooled competitor data is the subject of active antitrust litigation as of publication, with no outcome established. Nothing here says such products are or are not lawful. What each category of tool actually does, and where that litigation stands, is covered in the impact of technology on rental markets.

How do you standardize leases and screening across every unit?

By reducing the portfolio to one attorney-drafted lease template and one written screening standard, varying only what a property requires: short addenda for pets or lawn duties, never a separate document. Michigan constrains that template: the Truth in Renting Act, 1978 PA 454, voids certain provisions outright, including a waiver of the tenant’s rights under the security deposit act and a rent-acceleration clause omitting the required statement about the landlord’s obligation to minimize damages (MCL 554.633). It also prescribes required rental-agreement statements and a 12-point notice (MCL 554.634). A defective clause copied into six leases is six problems.

Screening is where scaling landlords take the most risk: it feels like judgment and is legally a compliance process. The Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3604) and Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, 1976 PA 453, govern it; Michigan’s protected characteristics in real estate transactions include religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, familial status and marital status (MCL 37.2502(1)). See HUD’s fair housing requirements for landlords before writing criteria.

• Write the criteria down before you advertise: Income multiple, credit threshold, rental history and verification method, in one document you can produce later.
• Apply them to every applicant, at every property: Never choose on impression or “fit,” and never steer an applicant toward or away from a unit or neighborhood.
• Handle criminal-record questions individually: A blanket ban raises disparate-impact exposure, and HUD has issued guidance on individualized assessment.
• Send the adverse-action notice, and write the tiebreaker in advance: FCRA duties apply under 15 U.S.C. 1681m when a consumer report contributed to a denial, and two qualified applicants for one unit are separated by a written rule.

How should you set up bookkeeping across multiple properties?

Per property, from day one: the IRS, your lender and your own decisions all need the unit-level number. IRS Publication 527, Residential Rental Property, sets the framework: residential rental property is depreciated over 27.5 years using the straight-line method and a mid-month convention, land is not depreciable, basis must be allocated between land and building, and expenses that better, restore or adapt the property are capitalized rather than deducted. None of that computes from a portfolio total.¹

Separate operating accounts per property give the cleanest per-door picture and are effectively required if you hold properties in separate entities. One portfolio account with disciplined per-property tagging is the lighter version. What fails at any size is mixing security deposits with operating cash.

Report three things per property: net operating income, capital spending, and cash after debt service. That last number decides whether the portfolio can absorb another purchase, see cash flow in real estate. Clean books pay off at the underwriting table too: lenders calculate qualifying rental income by multiplying gross monthly rent from leases or from an appraiser’s Form 1007 or Form 1025 by 75%, the remaining 25% absorbed by vacancy and maintenance. Schedule E figures that reconcile to actual leases move a file; figures that do not, stall it.

Which federal disclosures repeat with every lease and every applicant?

• Lead disclosure on pre-1978 housing: Before a lease is signed, the EPA's lead disclosure rule requires the landlord to provide the pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home,” disclose any known lead-based paint or hazards along with available records and reports, and include a Lead Warning Statement. Keep a signed copy for three years after the lease begins. Leases of 100 days or less with no renewal are exempt; the lessor elements are listed in 40 CFR 745.113(b).
• What the adverse-action notice must say: 15 U.S.C. 1681m(a) requires the name, address and telephone number of the consumer reporting agency that furnished the report, a statement that the agency did not make the decision and cannot give the specific reasons, and notice of the applicant’s right to a free copy of the report within 60 days and to dispute its accuracy. A credit score used in the decision must be disclosed too.
• Every listing is covered: 42 U.S.C. 3604(c) reaches “any notice, statement, or advertisement” for a rental that indicates a preference based on a protected class, so reuse one reviewed ad template. Recent changes are in new fair housing laws.

How do rental losses work once you own several properties?

Per IRS Publication 527 (2025), an owner who actively participates in rental real estate can deduct up to $25,000 of rental loss against other income. Above $100,000 of modified adjusted gross income the allowance is limited to 50% of the difference between $150,000 and that income, and at $150,000 or more there is generally none. Separate filers get none if they lived with their spouse at any time in the year; if they lived apart all year, up to $12,500, phasing out between $50,000 and $75,000. Excess loss carries forward. Active participation means owning at least 10% and making management decisions or arranging for others to provide services, such as approving tenants, setting rental terms and approving expenditures.

Hypothetical example, not an offer. For example, at $120,000 of modified adjusted gross income and a $20,000 loss, the formula allows 50% of $30,000, or $15,000, and carries $5,000 forward. If a manager runs the day-to-day, keep a record of the approvals you still make and ask your CPA how the rules apply; depreciation is covered in real estate depreciation and sales that roll into another rental in 1031 exchanges.

How do you build a maintenance system that covers every property?

By scheduling work by season instead of reacting to calls, and by giving vendors enough volume that they answer you first. One furnace is a small customer; six furnaces committed to one contractor each fall is leverage on price and response time.

Set a written response standard and publish it in the tenant handbook: emergency (no heat, no water, active leak, no safe entry) same day, urgent within 2 business days, routine within 7. Collect a W-9 and a certificate of insurance from every contractor before the first job, and confirm 1099 duties with your CPA. A maintenance reserve set as a percentage of property value or rent is a planning convention, not an official standard. A starting point, to be replaced with your own history.²

What does federal survey data show about how small landlords operate?

The national benchmark is the Census Bureau's Rental Housing Finance Survey. According to HUD's November 29, 2022 release of the 2021 survey (rental stock as of 2020), about 86 percent of the 19.3 million rental properties contain only one rental unit. Individual investors owned about 70 percent of rental properties, which held 38 percent of all rental units.

The same release reported that about 22 percent of small rental properties (1 to 4 units) are professionally managed, compared with 84 percent of properties with 150 or more units.

Source: HUD No. 22-242, HUD and Census Bureau release of 2021 Rental Housing Finance Survey findings, November 29, 2022. National medians for the 2020 rental stock, not Michigan figures.

A door with operating costs well under the survey's $380 median may be missing insurance, turnover or reserves (method in evaluating a property's cash flow potential and cap rates in real estate). About 76 percent of owners reported a capital improvement in 2020, so give each property its own reserve line (see how to budget for home maintenance).

When does hiring a property manager beat self-managing?

When the quoted fee costs less than what your time is worth, or when a property sits outside a radius you will actually drive. Full-service management is priced as a percentage of collected rent, usually with a placement fee tied to one month’s rent and sometimes a renewal fee. Get all three in writing: the headline percentage does not describe the cost.

Run the arithmetic with your own quoted numbers. On a hypothetical unit renting for $1,500 a month, a fee quoted at 9% of collected rent is $135 a month, or $1,620 a year, before any placement fee.³ Geography often decides it faster than math does.

How does financing change as your portfolio grows?

It tightens step by step, then changes category. Conventional investor lending gets harder as the door count rises, and then stops.

• The financed-property limit: A maximum of 10 financed one- to four-unit properties when the subject loan is a second home or investment property run through Desktop Underwriter, and 6 manually underwritten.
• Reserves scale with the portfolio: Additional reserves are calculated on the aggregate unpaid principal balance of other financed properties (2% at 1 to 4, 4% at 5 to 6, 6% at 7 to 10) on top of six months of reserves directed for the subject investment loan.
• Leverage is lower than on a primary residence: Maximum loan-to-value runs to 85% on a one-unit investment purchase and 75% on a two- to four-unit.

Past that ceiling, three structures do the work. DSCR loans qualify on the property’s rent against its debt service rather than your personal income. Non-QM programs accept income documentation conventional guidelines will not. A portfolio loan is held by the lender rather than sold, so its guidelines are that lender’s own. Why comparing several is the whole game. Equity is the other source: a cash-out refinance can fund the next down payment, and refinancing an investment property follows different LTV and reserve rules. For the national weekly average rate, see the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

One rule catches growing landlords: a lease survives the sale of the property. Buy an occupied rental and you take it subject to the existing tenancy, the sale is not grounds to terminate it, and the deposit and its statutory notice duties transfer to you. Verify both before closing. See investing in multi-family properties for the path that adds doors without adding roofs, and the real estate investing guide for strategy.

What counts toward Fannie Mae’s 10-property limit?

Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide topic B2-2-03 counts the one- to four-unit residential properties where you are personally obligated on the mortgage, even if that housing expense is excluded from your debt-to-income ratio. It counts properties, not mortgages, so a two-unit counts as one; your principal residence counts if it is financed; and a property financed jointly with a co-borrower counts once across the file. The conforming loan limit is a separate test, applied to the new loan Fannie Mae acquires, not to mortgages already in your count: per FHFA's November 25, 2025 announcement of the 2026 limits, the 2026 one-unit limit is $832,750 in most of the United States, up $26,250 from 2025, and statewide in Michigan, which has no high-cost area.

• What the topic leaves out: Commercial real estate, multifamily property of more than four units, a timeshare, a vacant lot, and a manufactured home on a leasehold estate titled as chattel are not subject to the limit, even when you are personally obligated on that mortgage.
• The reserve base is narrower than the count: Per Selling Guide topic B3-4.1-01, the 2%, 4% or 6% is applied to the unpaid balances on your other financed properties, leaving out the subject property, your principal residence, properties sold or pending sale, and accounts that will be paid by closing.

Hypothetical example, not an offer. For example, a borrower buying a fourth financed property already owns a financed home and two financed rentals with unpaid balances of $180,000 and $140,000. Run through Desktop Underwriter, four financed properties puts the file in the 2% tier, and the home and the new purchase are left out of the base, so the additional reserve is 2% of $320,000, or $6,400, on top of the six months of reserves Desktop Underwriter requires for the new investment property.

Run your count before an offer, alongside the debt-to-income ratio, and compare loan types in buying a home as an investment property, financing investments and buying a multi-family home.

What Michigan landlords with several properties should know

Michigan’s rules are statutory, and each door multiplies the clocks you run.

• Five units is a real threshold: Effective April 2, 2025, 2024 PA 178 (MCL 554.601c) and companion acts bar a landlord from denying a tenancy, discriminating in terms or fees, or advertising a preference based on source of income, and require a landlord setting an income threshold to exclude any housing voucher when testing it. It applies to a landlord owning five or more rental units in the state, counting related entities, so it can switch on the day you close your fifth door.
• Deposits: one cap and one clock per unit: A residential security deposit may not exceed 1½ months’ rent (MCL 554.602). The landlord furnishes 2 blank commencement inventory checklists, returned by the tenant within 7 days of receiving possession (MCL 554.608). An itemized list of damages must be mailed within 30 days after termination of occupancy (MCL 554.609), with consequences for failing to comply (MCL 554.610). Six tenancies means six caps, twelve checklists and six 30-day clocks.
• No self-help eviction, at any portfolio size: Possession is recovered through court summary proceedings (MCL 600.5701 et seq.). Changing locks, boarding the premises or interrupting essential services is unlawful interference with a tenant’s possessory interest under MCL 600.2918, and is not waivable by lease. Notice is statutory too: a written 7-day notice to quit for nonpayment, one month’s notice to end an estate at will or by sufferance (MCL 554.134). Take evictions to an attorney.
• Rent control is not a Michigan variable: A local governmental unit may not enact, maintain or enforce an ordinance having the effect of controlling the amount of rent charged for leasing private residential property (MCL 123.411, 1988 PA 226).
• Registration and inspection are per property: Detroit requires rental registration and a Certificate of Compliance for rentals other than single-family owner-occupied homes, issued after inspection and running three years, under an ordinance overhauled in October 2024. Ann Arbor and Grand Rapids run their own. Track expiration dates alongside your maintenance calendar.

How does a Michigan rental’s property tax change when you buy it?

First, per Michigan Treasury, Michigan's principal residence exemption (PRE) exempts an owner’s principal residence from the local school operating millage, up to 18 mills, and MCL 211.7dd(c) defines a principal residence as the one place where the owner has a true, fixed and permanent home. A rental you do not live in falls outside that definition, so its bill includes the school operating millage a homeowner’s bill does not.

Second, uncapping. In Michigan, a home’s taxable value is capped while one owner holds it. The year after it sells, that cap comes off and taxable value resets to the state equalized value, which is half of the assessor’s estimate of market value, not automatically half of what you paid. Samantha’s rule: “In Michigan, don’t just look at the current tax bill. Understand what could happen after ownership changes.” The Michigan property tax calculator uses a school district’s published non-homestead rate for a home that is not your principal residence.

The paperwork falls on the buyer: MCL 211.27a(10) requires the new owner to notify the assessing office within 45 days of the transfer of ownership, on a form prescribed by the State Tax Commission. Before moving rentals into an LLC, ask a Michigan attorney: subsection (6)(h) treats a conveyance of more than 50% of an entity’s ownership as a transfer, and subsection (7) lists transfers that do not count. If you once claimed the exemption on a home you now rent out, confirm your status with the assessor: Treasury’s exemption page posts a notice that its audits and denials begin April 24, 2026. See property tax assessments.

Which Michigan rules cover hired managers, deposit notices, court forms and city certificates?

• A manager’s trust accounting: Under MCL 339.2512c, a broker managing property must keep property management accounts separate from all other accounts, record each deposit and withdrawal with its date and the parties involved, and account to the owner and remit money as the property management employment contract provides; those records are subject to state inspection.
• The 14-day deposit notice: Within 14 days of possession, MCL 554.603 requires a written notice with the landlord’s name and address for communications, the name and address of the financial institution or surety holding the deposit, and a statement in 12-point boldface type, at least 4 points larger than the body, beginning “You must notify your landlord in writing within 4 days after you move.” Without it, the tenant owes no forwarding address.
• The state court forms: The Demand for Possession, Nonpayment of Rent (DC 100a) gives the tenant 7 days to pay or move, and the Complaint, Nonpayment of Rent (DC 102a) is used once at least 7 days have passed since delivery. The complaint attaches the lease and the demand showing when and how it was served, and has the landlord state that the property was kept fit and in reasonable repair, which a dated maintenance log supports.
• City certificates follow their own calendars: Ann Arbor Rental Housing Services says it inspects all rental units in the city every 30 months, and its registration page says new owners must register and apply for a new license after a sale. Grand Rapids' Rental Certification Program issues certificates for two, four or six years depending on the property and sends a reminder 90 days before recertification is due.

FAQ: Managing multiple rental properties

Here are answers to common questions about managing multiple rental properties.

How many rental properties can one person manage alone?

It depends far more on condition and geography than on door count. Many self-managing landlords handle a handful of units once they have software and reliable contractors; past that, tenant communication, turnovers and maintenance calls exceed part-time capacity. See how to analyze a property’s rental potential.

Should I hire a property manager for multiple rentals?

Hire one when the quoted fee costs less than the value of your time, or when a property sits outside your driving radius. Management is priced as a percentage of collected rent plus a placement fee, so compare total annual cost against your own hours. Fair-housing and deposit responsibility stays with the owner either way, see rental property management.

Should each rental property have its own bank account?

Separate accounts make per-property performance obvious and are effectively required if you hold properties in separate entities. Otherwise run one operating account with complete per-property tagging, but always keep security deposits in their own account. Confirm entity questions with a Michigan attorney and a CPA, and see cash flow in real estate.

Can I keep using conventional loans as I add rental properties?

Up to a point. Conventional guidelines allow a maximum of 10 financed one- to four-unit properties on a second home or investment loan underwritten through Desktop Underwriter, and 6 manually underwritten, with reserves rising as the count grows. Beyond that, DSCR, non-QM and portfolio structures take over. See what a portfolio loan is.

Does a property manager need a real estate license in Michigan?

Generally, yes. Michigan’s Occupational Code defines property management as leasing or renting the real property of others for a fee under a property management employment contract, and its definition of a real estate broker includes anyone who engages in property management as a whole or partial vocation (MCL 339.2501). LARA licenses brokers under Article 25 of 1980 PA 299; confirm a manager’s license with LARA's license lookup before signing.

Can a Michigan landlord spend a tenant’s security deposit?

Not freely. MCL 554.604 requires security deposits to be placed in a regulated financial institution. A landlord may use the money for any purpose only after filing a cash or surety bond with the Secretary of State, acceptable to the attorney general, covering all deposits held up to $50,000 plus 25% of the amount above $50,000. A separate deposit account at a bank or credit union is the simpler route.

Do I have to send 1099s to contractors who work on my rentals?

Only for payments made in the course of a business, and whether your rental activity counts is a question for your CPA. Where it does, the IRS says to report payments to a non-employee for services totaling $600 or more, or $2,000 or more for payments made after December 31, 2025, on Form 1099-NEC. For example, a contractor paid $1,500 in total during 2026 is under the new threshold.

How many rental properties fit on one Schedule E?

Three. Per the IRS Instructions for Schedule E, an owner with more than three rental real estate properties completes and attaches as many Schedules E as needed to list them, and fills in lines 23a through 26 on only one of them, as the combined totals for all properties. A fourth door means a second form.

The bottom line on managing multiple rental properties

Managing multiple rental properties is a standardization problem, not an effort problem: one attorney-reviewed lease template, one written screening standard applied identically to every applicant, one seasonal maintenance calendar, and per-property books built to survive both a tax return and an underwriter. Plan around the countable limits early, a maximum of 10 financed one- to four-unit properties on conventional second-home or investment loans through Desktop Underwriter (6 manually underwritten), reserves stepping from 2% of aggregate unpaid principal balance at 1 to 4 properties to 6% at 7 to 10, rental income counted at 75% of gross rent, and Michigan’s 1½-month deposit cap and 30-day itemization deadline repeating at every door.

If you’re ready to finance the next door, talk to Align Lending. We’ll shop conventional investor, DSCR, non-QM and portfolio options across our lender network and show you the terms side by side. Call 248-506-5727 or start online. Take lease and eviction questions to a Michigan attorney, tax questions to a CPA, and return questions to a financial advisor.

Footnotes:

1. This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal, financial, investment or tax advice. Depreciation, basis allocation, capitalization, entity choice and 1099 reporting all depend on facts specific to you and your properties, and tax rules change. Consult a qualified tax professional about your own situation and confirm current requirements with IRS Publication 527 before relying on anything described here. Return to text.

2. Maintenance reserve percentages, per-door budgeting ratios and similar planning benchmarks referenced in this article are general planning conventions drawn from real estate operating literature. They are not published by, set by or endorsed by any government agency, secondary-market investor or standards body, and they are not predictions of your actual costs. Replace them with your own property-level history as soon as you have it. Return to text.

3. Example figures are hypothetical and for educational purposes only. They do not constitute an advertisement of credit terms, a rate quote, a property management fee quote, or a representation of what any property manager or lender will charge. Management fee percentages and fee structures are set by individual management companies and are negotiable; loan rates and terms depend on your application, the property and market conditions. Align Lending does not manage property and does not set management fees. Return to text.

Sources: Maximum of 10 financed one- to four-unit properties when the subject transaction is a second home or investment property underwritten through Desktop Underwriter, and 6 for manually underwritten loans, Fannie Mae Selling Guide B2-2-03, Multiple Financed Properties for the Same Borrower. Additional reserves on other financed properties of 2% of the aggregate unpaid principal balance for 1 to 4 financed properties, 4% for 5 to 6, and 6% for 7 to 10, and six months’ reserves directed for investment property transactions, Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-4.1-01, Minimum Reserve Requirements. Requirement that gross monthly rent from current lease agreements or from Form 1007 or Form 1025 be multiplied by 75%, with the remaining 25% absorbed by vacancy losses and ongoing maintenance expenses, Fannie Mae Selling Guide B3-3.8-01, General Rental Income Information (relocated from B3-3.8-01), last updated October 8, 2025. Maximum loan-to-value of 85% on a one-unit investment property purchase and 75% on a two- to four-unit investment property, Fannie Mae Eligibility Matrix and Freddie Mac Single-Family, Maximum LTV/TLTV/HTLTV Ratio Requirements for Conforming and Super Conforming Mortgages. Weekly national average 30-year and 15-year fixed mortgage rates published each Thursday, Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The 27.5-year recovery period for residential rental property under the general depreciation system using the straight line method and a mid-month convention, the rule that land cannot be depreciated, allocation of basis between land and buildings, and the capitalization standard for expenses that better, restore or adapt property to a new or different use, Internal Revenue Service, Publication 527, Residential Rental Property. Prohibited discrimination in the sale or rental of a dwelling, Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604, and HUD guidance on the use of criminal records in housing decisions, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Adverse-action obligations when a consumer report is used, Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681m. Protected characteristics in real estate transactions, including religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, familial status and marital status, MCL 37.2502(1), Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, 1976 PA 453. Source-of-income protections effective April 2, 2025, barring denial of a tenancy, discrimination in terms or fees, or advertising a preference based on source of income, requiring exclusion of a voucher when testing an income threshold, and applying to a landlord owning five or more rental units in this state including all related entities, 2024 PA 178 (MCL 554.601c), 2024 PA 179 (MCL 554.601), 2024 PA 180 (MCL 37.2502) and 2024 PA 199 (MCL 554.601d). Security deposit not to exceed 1½ months’ rent, MCL 554.602; two blank commencement inventory checklists with tenant return within 7 days after receiving possession, MCL 554.608; itemized list of damages mailed within 30 days after termination of occupancy, MCL 554.609; consequence of failure to comply, MCL 554.610, Landlord and Tenant Relationships Act, 1972 PA 348. Void rental-agreement provisions including waiver of rights under 1972 PA 348 and rent acceleration absent the required statement regarding the landlord’s obligation to minimize damages, MCL 554.633, and required rental-agreement statements and the 12-point notice, MCL 554.634, Truth in Renting Act, 1978 PA 454. Written 7-day notice to quit for nonpayment of rent, and one month’s notice to terminate an estate at will or by sufferance with notice equal to the payment interval where rent is payable at periods of less than 3 months, MCL 554.134. Unlawful interference with a tenant’s possessory interest, including changing locks, boarding the premises or interrupting essential services, and the non-waivable nature of those protections, MCL 600.2918; recovery of possession through summary proceedings, MCL 600.5701 et seq. Prohibition on a local governmental unit enacting, maintaining or enforcing an ordinance or resolution that would have the effect of controlling the amount of rent charged for leasing private residential property, MCL 123.411, 1988 PA 226. Certificate of compliance required before occupancy of units in multiple dwellings or rooming houses, issued within 15 days after written application, MCL 125.529, Housing Law of Michigan. Rental registration and Certificate of Compliance requirements, the three-year residential certificate term and the October 2024 rental ordinance overhaul, City of Detroit, Buildings, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department. Property management practice standards and operating expense categories referenced generally, Institute of Real Estate Management. Property management software products are named as examples only; no product is endorsed and feature sets change. Antitrust litigation concerning revenue-management and rent-setting software is described as of publication and no outcome is asserted. Michigan statutory citations are current as of publication; confirm the current text at the Michigan Legislature.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal, financial, investment or tax advice, and nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any property or security. Landlord-tenant statutes, fair-housing rules, local rental ordinances, tax rules and loan guidelines change; confirm current requirements with the Michigan Legislature, your municipality, HUD and the IRS, and consult a Michigan real estate attorney, a CPA and a licensed financial advisor about your situation. Align Lending is an independent Michigan mortgage broker, NMLS #2041154. It is not a property management company, a law firm, an accounting firm or a registered investment adviser.

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