Michigan Retaliation Law: What Counts & the Presumption Window (2026)

What counts as retaliation, and the window where the law presumes it

At a glance

• Protection window: 90 days
• Governing authority: MCL 600.5720

Who this covers — and who it does not

This page covers landlord retaliation in Michigan — what a landlord may not do after you exercise a protected right.

It does not cover commercial leases, or conduct outside the protected window described below.

What the law prohibits

MCL 600.5720 — 房东不得因租客行使租约/法律权利、投诉健康安全违规、组织或参与租客组织而报复（驱逐、涨租、减服务）。

MCL 600.5720 ↗

The protection window

For 90 days after a protected act, certain landlord actions are presumed retaliatory.

600.5720：租客受保护行为后 90 天内房东提起驱逐，且该行为未被 dismiss 或 deny 的，推定驱逐系报复，举证责任转由房东证明合法非报复理由。

MCL 600.5720 ↗

Protected activities

What a landlord may not do

Burden of proof

租客先证受保护行为 + 90 天内驱逐未被驳回 → 推定报复，举证责任转由房东。

MCL 600.5720 ↗

Remedies

Exemptions and limits

房东证明其行为非报复、有独立合法理由的，不构成报复。

MCL 600.5720 ↗

Sources and how to verify them

Every figure on this page comes from the official text or a state court opinion, not from a summary. The table below lists each provision used and the date it was last checked.

Statute	Last verified	Source
MCL 600.5720	2026-10-16	official text ↗

Where the official text and a secondary summary disagree, this page follows the official text and says so. Where a provision admits of more than one reading, that is flagged rather than smoothed over.

When you need a lawyer instead of a tool

A self-help guide is the right starting point for understanding your position. Get legal help if:

• You have received an eviction notice — the timeline is now court-driven
• The dispute involves discrimination, unsafe conditions or retaliation
• Your landlord has filed anything in court already
• You are unsure whether a local ordinance changes the state rule

Local legal aid organisations and tenant unions offer free help for qualifying cases. They are independent of this site — we list them because they are the right place to go, not because they link here.

More Michigan guides

Michigan Security Deposit Return · Michigan Security Deposit Rules · Michigan Eviction Process · Michigan Rent Increase Rules · Michigan Repairs & Habitability

→ All Michigan tenant rights topics

Common questions