I found one of the clauses in my apartment lease violates the security deposit laws of Michigan. What should I do about the illegal section in the lease?

Full question:

I rent an apartment in Grand Rapids in Michigan with my family. I recently renewed my apartment lease with my landlord. The lease contained a provision that allowed the landlord to keep 50% of the security deposit at the end of the lease. I found the provision was against the Michigan Security Deposit Laws. I would like to know what I should do if the lease contains an illegal section.

• Category: Landlord Tenant
• Subcategory: Residential Lease
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Michigan

Answer:

A written lease between a tenant and landlord can include almost any provision as long as it doesn’t violate any federal, state, or local law, rules and regulations. In the state of Michigan, the Truth in Renting Act controls what should and shouldn’t be included in a lease.
 
In Michigan, if a lease has an illegal section and the landlord does not change it within 20 days of getting written notice of it, the tenants may do any of the following:

1. The tenant may cancel the lease and end the rental
2. The tenant may force  the landlord to send out a correction to all tenants who signed the lease and prevent the landlord from breaking the rules in future leases
3. The tenant may sue the landlord for $250.00 or any actual costs from the bad lease, whichever is more.

 
In order to exercise any of these options, the tenant must file a case in court. Further, a tenant may exercise the same options and sue for $500 if a required section is missing in the lease. Moreover, a tenant who sues may get $250 for each illegal section of the lease or $500 for missing sections. However, tenants under one lease can only get damages once.