Michigan Landlord/Tenant Issues

[Tunie]

STATE OF MICHIGAN

I am posting this for a friend who does not have a computer or internet access.

He rented a house on a six month lease Feb 1 of this year. He is now living there month-to-month with no formal lease. He asked for one and was told they would get one to him but they never have. He has continued to pay his rent.

Meanwhile, over the course of the last 9 months, the person acting as the "property manager" and the only person he has had dealings with, has trashed the property. Yes, that's right, the property manager, not the tenant. He has dumped mounds of dirt on the front yard, cement slabs in the driveway so my friend can't use the driveway to park his car or get in the two car garage and has wholly refused to repair or maintain anything he has been asked to look at and take care of.

My friend sent him a letter late October by certified mail with 1/2 of November's rent and set out all the issues with the property. The property manager refused delivery and it was sent back to the tenant. He sent 1/2 the rent because he was going to call in workman to repair the certain items in the property and remove all the junk in the yard and around the property that the property manager put there.

Then my friend got a Notice for Possession from a lawyer. They want him to move out January 1 for no apparent reason and also say he is late on his rent. (He has also mailed them his December rent on time.)

It seems like they just want him out because they don't to maintain/repair the property or deal with the problems. They are threatening to sue him to get him out and it all seems very retaliatory in nature. He has always paid his rent on time and been a good tenant. He has kept the property up as much as he can given that the property manager makes it worse. The property manager pretty much has ignored him and things just went on as they were with my friend paying rent and the property manager accepting it until my friend tried to send the certified letter. He also sent a certified letter to the property OWNER along with copies of his original letter to the property manager and she refuses to deal with it and instead called in a lawyer to evict him.

I have tried to help him by researching landlord/tenant law in Michigan and have found a wealth of information but there is nothing that addresses someone on a month-to-month lease.

Does he have any rights as the tenant since this is only a month-to-month lease and there is no longer a formal written lease?

 

[treese]

Does he have any rights as the tenant since this is only a month-to-month lease and there is no longer a formal written lease?

The LL can terminate a month to month lease without cause or reason with a 30 day notice. If the tenant does not move, he will be evicted.

 

[HomeGuru]

Now that was simple.

 

[Tunie]

Yes, it does seem simple. That pretty much answers my question.

I was also concerned with the formality of the whole thing since this tenant has received not a simple written notice that they want him to move in 30 days but prelude documents to a lawsuit - Notice of Possession etc... Why would they do this instead of just notifying him in writing to move in 30 days? He thinks he now has to go to court and defend himself in a matter that he has tried to resolve for months.

I will tell him he's out... since as a "month-to-monther" he has no rights. Lesson learned for him, for sure.

 

[queenofsand]

When your friend didn't pay November's rent, management went into 'mean ol' landlord' mode. Hence, the notice for possession rather than a simple 'please move out' notice.

 

[Tunie]

The thing that was bad was he did try to pay his rent and included it in his certified letter he attempted to send to the property manager about the problems he was having. When the property manager refused delivery, he, of course, didn't know there was rent money included. So he wasn't behind on his rent.

I've told him per posts here that without a lease, he really has no options. It's a shame he has to move now with the holidays coming and bad winter weather but I know he has learned an important lesson - have a LEASE!!

 

[Leinalani]

The thing that was bad was he did try to pay his rent and included it in his certified letter he attempted to send to the property manager about the problems he was having. When the property manager refused delivery, he, of course, didn't know there was rent money included. So he wasn't behind on his rent.

I've told him per posts here that without a lease, he really has no options. It's a shame he has to move now with the holidays coming and bad winter weather but I know he has learned an important lesson - have a LEASE!!

According to your post, in his letter to the LL he enclosed HALF of his November rent, not all. And in this posting, you said the LL returned the letter with the rent included. Because the LL didn't receive half or all of November's rent, they now have a foundation from which to build a case and evict.

 

[Tunie]

You're correct. I mistyped. He did send 1/2 of the rent along with the letter which explained why. The landlord did not take delivery of the certified mail so he didn't even know what was in the envelope. Doesn't matter anyway, he has no leg to stand on apparently and is making preparations to move.