Tenants And Landlords Resource Guide - Michigan State University, College Of Law Page 23
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39(3) Landlord’s breach of the warranty of
persuade the judge (or jury), by a
habitability and duty to repair. The
preponderance of the evidence (51 percent),
landlord must have been provided with
to rule in their favor.
notice of the problem, generally in
In the courtroom, there is an order to
writing, and must have been given a
things. The landlord must first prove that a
reasonable amount of time to fix the
lawful reason for eviction exists and that he
problem. If a portion of the rent was
or she is entitled to regain possession as
withheld for the purpose of addressing
owner of the rental property. The tenant, on
the maintenance or repair issue(s), it
the other hand, may next offer evidence that
must have been deposited into an escrow
even though there is a lawful reason, a legal
account. (That portion of rent must
defense exists that protects him or her from
reasonably relate to the cost of repair or
being removed.
to the damage that the tenant incurred
After both parties have had an
because of the problem). The tenant
opportunity to offer their proofs to the judge
must show that “but for the repair and
(or jury), a decision will be made either for
maintenance required, he or she was
the landlord (to regain possession) or for the
ready, willing, and able to pay the rent.”
tenant (to remain in possession).
Having a defense and being able to
Q8 If the landlord wins the lawsuit for
prove it are two different things. If the
eviction, how soon can the tenant and
tenant is successful in offering his or her
his/her personal property be removed?
proofs, the tenant is generally allowed to
remain in possession of the rental property.
Even if the landlord wins the lawsuit for
The court may not order eviction if the court
eviction, the court cannot issue an Order for
believes that the tenant complied with the
Eviction for at least 10 days. This allows
law and acted only to protect his or her
time for the tenant to cure by paying the rent
rights, even though the landlord may have
owed if that was the reason for eviction, and
had a lawful reason to evict.
it allows time to work things out by
agreement.
Q7 What can the parties expect to see
happen at trial?
Only after waiting 10 days can the
prevailing landlord request that the judge
If the parties to a lawsuit for eviction
issue an Order of Eviction. However, even
cannot otherwise reach an agreement, they
then Michigan law does not allow the
will have to go to court to have things
landlord to forcibly remove the tenant or the
decided for them. Even when they first get
tenant’s property. Only an officer of the
to court, most cases are resolved in the
court, by a judge’s order, can remove the
hallways. The judges generally encourage
tenant and tenant’s property from the rental
the parties to reach a settlement; the
property; and that officer is generally the
attorneys who are there on behalf of the
sheriff or someone from the sheriff’s office.
parties also encourage their clients to do so.
This is called executing the Order of
If they cannot, the parties then proceed to
Eviction, and there is little the tenant can do
trial where the judge or jury will decide the
but start packing.
outcome.
At trial, both parties will be given an
opportunity to tell their side to the judge (or
jury). They will be allowed to offer
testimony and show documentation that may
T e n a n t s a n d L a n d l o r d s R e s o u r c e G u i d e
Page 21
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