Legal Reference Blog by Renee C. Walsh, Esq.

14/08: Special Landlord-Tenant Provisions Based upon Medical Need

There are special provisions under Michigan law for tenants who cannot live in dependently. If your loved one requires residence in a senior citizen housing facility or in an accident or similar circumstance wherein they become incapable of living independently and must move as a result, Michigan law provides that they can terminate their lease early.


In fact, the law requires that all rental agreements provide a notice of the right to early termination. Most states have similar laws providing such exceptions to a timely termination of lease.

MCL 554.601a Termination of lease; conditions; applicability of section to leases entered into, renewed, or renegotiated after effective date provides:

(1) A rental agreement shall provide that a tenant who has occupied a rental unit for more than 13 months may terminate a lease by a 60-day written notice to the landlord if 1 of the following occurs:

(a) The tenant becomes eligible during the lease term to take possession of a subsidized rental unit in senior citizen housing and provides the landlord with written proof of that eligibility.

(b) The tenant becomes incapable during the lease term of living independently, as certified by a physician in a notarized statement.

(2) This section applies only to leases entered into, renewed, or renegotiated after the effective date of this section, in accordance with the constitutional prohibition against impairment of contracts provided by section 10 of article I of the state constitution of 1963.