Section 554.601 - Definitions. - Michigan Statutes

LANDLORD AND TENANT RELATIONSHIPS (EXCERPT)
Act 348 of 1972

554.601 Definitions.

Sec. 1.

As used in this act:

(a) “Rental unit” means a structure or part of a structure used as a home, residence, or sleeping unit by a single person or household unit, or any grounds, or other facilities or area promised for the use of a residential tenant and includes, but without limitation, apartment units, boarding houses, rooming houses, mobile home spaces, and single and 2-family dwellings.

(b) “Rental agreement” means an agreement that establishes or modifies the terms, conditions, rules, regulations, or any other provisions concerning the use and occupancy of a rental unit.

(c) “Landlord” means the owner, lessor, or sublessor of the rental unit or the property of which it is a part and, in addition, means a person authorized to exercise any aspect of the management of the premises, including a person who, directly or indirectly, acts as a rental agent, receives rent, other than as a bona fide purchaser, and who has no obligation to deliver the receipts to another person.

(d) “Tenant” means a person who occupies a rental unit for residential purposes with the landlord's consent for an agreed upon consideration.

(e) “Security deposit” means a deposit, in any amount, paid by the tenant to the landlord or his or her agent to be held for the term of the rental agreement, or any part of the term, and includes any required prepayment of rent other than the first full rental period of the lease agreement; any sum required to be paid as rent in any rental period in excess of the average rent for the term; and any other amount of money or property returnable to the tenant on condition of return of the rental unit by the tenant in condition as required by the rental agreement. Security deposit does not include either of the following:

(i) An amount paid for an option to purchase, pursuant to a lease with option to purchase, unless it is shown the intent was to evade this act.

(ii) An amount paid as a subscription for or purchase of a membership in a cooperative housing association incorporated under the laws of this state. As used in this subparagraph, “cooperative housing association” means a consumer cooperative that provides dwelling units to its members.

(f) “Senior citizen housing” means housing for individuals 62 years of age or older that is subsidized in whole or in part under any local, state, or federal program.

History: 1972, Act 348, Eff. Apr. 1, 1973 ;-- Am. 1984, Act 297, Imd. Eff. Dec. 21, 1984 ;-- Am. 1995, Act 79, Imd. Eff. June 15, 1995
Popular Name: Landlord-Tenant Act