Michigan Mobile Home Park Laws

Michigan Mobile Home Park Laws — Lot Rent and Evictions (2026)

By Oleg Kachko · Updated August 22, 2026

✓ Law Verified August 2026

Michigan mobile home park laws are their own world: you own the home, you rent the ground, and a separate set of rules, different from ordinary landlord-tenant law, decides what the park can charge, when it can evict, and what happens if the land is sold out from under the whole community. This guide covers those rules in plain English, verified against official Michigan sources as of August 2026.

Michigan Mobile Home Park Laws at a Glance

The law that governs parks Michigan does not have one single “mobile home park act” — protections are split between The Mobile Home Commission Act, 1987 PA 96, MCL 125.2301 to 125.2350 (park licensing, unfair and deceptive practices, MCL 125.2328 and 125.2328a), and Chapter 57a of the Revised Judicature Act, MCL 600.5771 to 600.5785 (just-cause eviction), with mobile home park holdover proceedings under MCL 600.5714
Notice before a lot rent increase 30 days written notice is the working minimum in Michigan, and it comes from general periodic-tenancy law (notice equal to at least one rental period) rather than from a lot-rent-specific statute — the Mobile Home Commission Act sets no separate lot-rent notice period. The stronger protection is timing: under MCL 600.5775(3) a park may change rent or other terms only after your written lease is terminated or expires, so many residents cannot be raised mid-lease at all. Because parks must offer at least a 1-year lease, that in practice pushes most increases to the annual renewal. Check your written lease — if it promises longer notice, the lease controls; if your notice arrives late, you may be able to raise that in district court.
Cap on lot rent increases NO CAP. Michigan sets no statewide percentage limit on lot rent increases and has nothing comparable to New Jersey’s 3.5 percent or Oregon’s roughly 6 percent cap. The only limits are indirect: an increase may not be excessive or designed to drive you out in place of a lawful just-cause termination, and it may not be retaliatory or discriminatory.
Eviction notice periods 7 days after service of a demand for possession for nonpayment of rent, and 7 days where the tenant willfully or negligently causes a serious and continuing health hazard or extensive and continuing physical damage to the premises (the park must have discovered the condition no earlier than 90 days before filing). 24 hours for a demand based on illegal drug activity on the premises under MCL 600.5714(1)(b). 30 days after service of a demand for possession based on any other just-cause ground under MCL 600.5775(2). Under Chapter 57a you generally have 10 days from the notice to ask the park, by certified or registered mail, for an in-person conference about the alleged cause. If the park files, you are served a summons and complaint and get a court hearing — you may be able to raise lack of just cause, defective notice, retaliation, or failure to maintain the park as defenses, so check with your district court or a legal aid office quickly.

Why Park Living Has Its Own Rulebook in Michigan

You own the home as personal property but rent only the site, so the park controls the land under your home while you carry the cost and risk of moving a structure that often cannot be moved.

Michigan responds by giving lot renters protections apartment renters do not have: the park must offer a written lease with a term of at least 1 year (MCL 125.2328), your tenancy cannot be ended merely because the lease expired, and it can be terminated only for “just cause” listed in MCL 600.5775.

Michigan also bars a park from stopping you from selling your home in place, on site, at a price you set, so long as the buyer qualifies for tenancy under the park’s normal standards (MCL 125.2328); the park may not force you to sell through it or to remove the home just because it changed its appearance or condition rules (MCL 125.2328a).

Mobile home park residents also keep ordinary tenant rights — security deposit act, Truth in Renting act, summary proceedings act, and Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.

Owning the home while renting the ground under it creates a kind of leverage no apartment landlord has: moving a manufactured home typically costs thousands of dollars, and many older homes cannot be moved at all without falling apart.

Lawmakers know that “just move” is not a real option for park residents, which is exactly why Michigan mobile home park laws give lot renters protections apartment tenants never get, limited eviction grounds, longer notice periods, and rules about what happens when the park itself changes hands.

Lot Rent Increases: Your Rights Before You Pay More

Required notice: 30 days written notice is the working minimum in Michigan, and it comes from general periodic-tenancy law (notice equal to at least one rental period) rather than from a lot-rent-specific statute — the Mobile Home Commission Act sets no separate lot-rent notice period.

The stronger protection is timing: under MCL 600.5775(3) a park may change rent or other terms only after your written lease is terminated or expires, so many residents cannot be raised mid-lease at all.

Because parks must offer at least a 1-year lease, that in practice pushes most increases to the annual renewal. Check your written lease — if it promises longer notice, the lease controls; if your notice arrives late, you may be able to raise that in district court.

Is there a cap? NO CAP. Michigan sets no statewide percentage limit on lot rent increases and has nothing comparable to New Jersey’s 3.5 percent or Oregon’s roughly 6 percent cap. The only limits are indirect: an increase may not be excessive or designed to drive you out in place of a lawful just-cause termination, and it may not be retaliatory or discriminatory.

Whatever the number on the notice, read it against the rules above before paying. An increase served with short notice, or one that violates a cap where Michigan has one, is challengeable, and park residents who organize respond far more effectively than neighbors acting alone. Many states saw lot-rent fights turn into new legislation in the last two years for exactly this reason.

The Park Cannot Evict You for Just Any Reason

Under MCL 600.5775 a Michigan park tenancy may be terminated only for just cause, defined as: (1) use of the mobile home site for an unlawful purpose;

(2) failure to comply with the lease or with a park rule that is reasonably related to the health, safety, or welfare of the park, its employees or tenants, the quiet enjoyment of other tenants, or the physical condition or appearance of the park;

(3) intentional physical injury by the tenant to park personnel or other tenants, or intentional physical damage to park property or another tenant’s property; (4) failure to comply with a local ordinance, state law, or governmental rule or regulation relating to mobile homes;

and (5) failure to make timely payment of rent or other charges on 3 or more occasions in any 12-month period after the park served a written demand for possession for nonpayment.

Separately, MCL 600.5714 allows possession actions for nonpayment of rent and for illegal drug activity on the premises. Expiration or non-renewal of the lease is not, by itself, just cause — the park cannot evict you simply because your term ended.

This list matters enormously: it means a park in Michigan cannot simply non-renew you to free up the lot the way an apartment landlord might. If an eviction notice arrives, check it against the legal grounds first, park evictions fail in court most often because the stated reason is not on the list, or the notice skipped a required warning step.

If the Park Sells or Closes

When the park is sold: UNVERIFIED as an existing right — as of August 21, 2026 Michigan law gives park residents no statutory advance notice of a sale, no right of first refusal, and no resident-purchase process; a 2019-2020 bill (HB 6005) to add a right of first refusal did not become law.

Senate Bill 937 of 2026, passed by the Michigan Senate on May 19, 2026 and pending in the House, would create a resident “right of first negotiation”: notice when the owner intends to sell, time for residents to organize, and a homeowners’ association or cooperative could submit a written offer the owner must consider in good faith.

Companion bills would add a 15 percent income tax credit for owners who sell to residents (SB 938) and a MSHDA-administered Resident Ownership Revolving Fund (SB 939).

Until those are enacted, your leverage is your lease and your right to sell your own home in place, so watch the bill status and organize early if a sale is rumored.

When the park closes: 12 months.

Under MCL 125.2328a(2) a park that is changing its method of doing business — which expressly includes changing the use of the land the park sits on, converting to a mobile home park condominium, or converting to total rental of both the site and park-owned homes — must give not less than 1 year’s written notice of the proposed change to all affected residents, unless another law sets a different period.

Michigan has no statewide relocation-payment law and no state relocation trust fund for displaced park residents, so there is no guaranteed dollar figure — relocation money amount: NONE. Some Michigan cities and counties have their own relocation ordinances, and MSHDA and local housing agencies may have assistance, so check with your local planning department.

Pending SB 935 of 2026 would write a 12-month change-of-use termination notice directly into the licensing act.

Fees the Park Can and Cannot Charge in Michigan

Under MCL 125.2328 a Michigan park may not directly or indirectly charge or collect an entrance fee, and may not charge or collect a refundable or nonrefundable exit fee. It may not charge or collect money for electric, fuel, or water service unless that service is accurately and consistently measured.

Charges for water are tied to the serving water utility’s tariff — a park that violates those tariffs or overcharges can be treated as a regulated water utility.

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The park may not require you to buy a mobile home from a particular seller as a condition of entering or renting a site, and may not require or coerce you to buy, rent, or lease goods or services from another person as a condition of selling your home on leaving the park.

It may not stop you from selling your home on site at a price you set to a buyer who qualifies for tenancy, and it may not force you to sell through the park or pay it a commission for a sale you make yourself.

Any lease condition making you waive these protections or the written-lease requirement is void, and you may bring your own lawsuit for a violation of MCL 125.2328.

Guest fees: UNVERIFIED — Michigan’s act does not specifically address them, so check your lease. Pending SB 935 of 2026 would flatly bar utility markups above the rate charged by the actual provider and ban mandatory electronic-only billing.

The park’s side of the bargain: Mobile home parks in Michigan must be licensed by the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) and pass inspection to keep that license, under the Mobile Home Commission Act and the administrative rules adopted under MCL 125.2305. Those standards cover site layout and density, roads, utilities and hookups, drainage, lighting, electrical safety, open space and recreational facilities, and general health and safety.

A park must be served by a common water system, and sanitary sewer systems must be designed for average daily flow of not less than 200 gallons per site per day; water supply, sewage collection and treatment, and drainage are regulated on the environmental side by state environmental rules. Common areas, park roads, and shared facilities must be kept up as a condition of licensure.

In January 2025 LARA announced a dedicated Mobile Home Community Inspection Team to step up park inspections.

If roads, water, sewer, or common areas are failing, you may be able to file a complaint with LARA’s Mobile Home Section (form BCC-982; Compliance Division 517-241-9316, [email protected]) — note LARA says it has no authority over contractual, monetary, or warranty disputes, so rent and lease fights go to court or the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division.

The Trapped-Equity Problem and How to Protect Yourself

The economics of a mobile home park in Michigan are unlike any apartment: you own the home, but moving it typically costs thousands of dollars, often more than an older home is worth, and many parks will not accept a home past a certain age. That is why lot-rent disputes feel so different here: walking away is rarely a real option, and park owners know it.

The law is what balances that power gap, which makes knowing the exact notice rules, fee limits, and eviction grounds in Michigan worth more to a park resident than to almost any other kind of tenant.

Protect yourself the way the long-time residents do: keep every rent notice and rule change in writing, photograph the condition of your lot and the park’s common areas a couple of times a year, and read the community rules before signing anything, in most states the written rules you were given are what a court will hold both sides to.

Selling Your Home Without Losing Its Value

When it is time to leave, most residents sell the home in place rather than move it, and this is where park rules matter most.

Many states limit a park’s power to block an in-place sale: the park can usually screen the buyer the way it screens any new resident, but it generally cannot force you to remove a home just because you are selling, and it cannot demand a cut of your sale price unless it actually acted as your sales agent.

Get the park’s buyer-approval requirements in writing early, keep the lot rent current through the sale, and never sign a rule change mid-sale without reading it, a home that can stay on its lot is worth far more than one that has to be moved.

The Strongest Protection Is the Lot Next Door

Everything about park life is shared, the roads, the water lines, the rent schedule, the fate of the land itself. That is why the single most effective move a park resident in Michigan can make is joining or forming a residents association. A park owner can ignore one complaint about a rent increase; ignoring a letter signed by sixty households is a different decision.

Associations are also how residents use park-sale rights in the states that grant them, organized communities have bought their own parks across the country, usually with help from nonprofit lenders who specialize in exactly this.

Keep your own records the same way any tenant should: the lease for your lot, every rent notice, every rule change, photos of anything the park fails to maintain. Michigan mobile home park laws reward the resident who can show a judge dates and documents, and most disputes never reach a judge once the park realizes you have them.

Recent changes in Michigan: Senate Bills 934 through 939 of 2026 — the first major rewrite of Michigan’s mobile home laws in nearly 40 years — cleared a Senate committee unanimously on May 12, 2026 and passed the full Senate on May 19, 2026, and were pending in the House as of August 2026.

They would rebuild park licensing with a public owner database and civil penalties up to 250000 for operating unlicensed, require annual inspections, bar utility markups above the provider’s rate, guarantee a 1-year lease and renewal right, require 12 months’ notice before terminating tenancies to change use, let residents facing eviction sell their home on site, and create a resident right of first negotiation plus a MSHDA resident-ownership fund.

None of that is law yet, so today’s rules are still the 1987 act plus MCL 600.5775 just cause. No Michigan lot-rent cap has passed — rent-control proposals for parks have been floated and fought over, and Michigan still bars local rent control.

Michigan Mobile Home Park Laws: Quick Answers

Can the park raise lot rent whenever it wants? The Michigan mobile home park laws above set the notice rules, and any cap, that apply before an increase is valid.

Can the park make me remove my home? Only for the legal grounds listed in the Michigan mobile home park laws, and only through the court process, never by padlock or tow truck.

Do apartment tenant rights apply to me? Partly. The Michigan mobile home park laws are their own chapter, and this page plus the state guides linked below cover both layers.

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Official Michigan Sources & Resources

Making Michigan Mobile Home Park Laws Work for You

The Michigan mobile home park laws only protect residents who use them, and parks count on most residents never reading the act. Read your lot lease against this page, calendar every notice deadline the moment a letter arrives, and talk to your neighbors, nearly every protection in the Michigan mobile home park laws gets stronger when residents act together.

If the park ignores the rules, the state agency and local legal aid both handle park disputes, and a written complaint citing the act gets a very different response than a phone call. Under the Michigan mobile home park laws, the resident with documents and neighbors is never as trapped as the park hopes.

This guide to michigan mobile home park laws was last verified against official sources in August 2026. Lot-rent caps and park-sale laws are moving fast in many states, re-check before acting on a deadline.

More Michigan Tenant Rights Guides

Disclaimer: This guide is informational only and is not legal advice. Landlord-tenant laws change and vary by city and county within a state. Verify current rules with your state, your local court, or a free legal-aid office before acting. If you are facing eviction, contact a local tenant attorney or legal-aid organization right away.

Renting? Protect your belongings — compare renters insurance at Home Insure Guide. Divorce involving a lease? See Divorce Help Guide. Unsafe housing / toxic mold injury? Some cases qualify — see Mass Tort Info.