Michigan Month-to-Month Notice to Quit: MCL 554.134 Explained

Under MCL 554.134(1), either party can end an estate at will by giving “1 month's notice”, or, where rent is paid at intervals under 3 months, a notice as long as that interval. For a tenancy from year to year, subsection (3) gives a notice that runs 1 year from service. A tenant who stays past a valid notice is generally a holdover under MCL 600.5714(1)(c).

What subsection (1) says, in full

“Except as provided otherwise in this section, an estate at will or by sufferance may be terminated by either party by giving 1 month's notice to the other party. If the rent reserved in a lease is payable at periods of less than 3 months, the time of notice is sufficient if it is equal to the interval between the times of payment. Notice is not void because it states a day for the termination of the tenancy that does not correspond to the conclusion or commencement of a rental period. The notice terminates the tenancy at the end of a period equal in length to the interval between times of payment.”

In practice: monthly rent means a 1-month notice, weekly rent means a 1-week notice, rent every 2 weeks means 2 weeks. The statute text does not define “estate at will”, “by sufferance” or “month-to-month”. This article covers a tenant with no fixed end date who pays monthly; whether your tenancy fits is a question for a Michigan attorney.

What the text leaves open

• Form. Subsection (1) does not say the notice must be written; subsection (2), the nonpayment route, does say “written”. Write it anyway.
• Delivery. MCL 600.5718 lists ways to serve the demand provided for in MCL 600.5716; the text does not say it governs a notice to quit. Use one of its methods and keep proof.
• Start of the period. The text does not say whether the period runs from service or from the next rent date. Our examples count from service. When in doubt, state a later date.
• Counting. The statute text does not say how to count weekends or holidays; the court rules do, and they are outside these files. Ask the court clerk or an attorney, and when in doubt finish early.

Our template; the statute lists no contents or wording for a subsection (1) notice:

NOTICE TO QUIT (END OF TENANCY)

To: [name(s) of tenant(s)]
Premises: [street address, unit, city, Michigan]
Rent is payable [monthly / weekly / other].

The landlord ends your tenancy of the premises. This notice
is served on [date] and the tenancy ends on [date, at least
one full rent interval after service]. Please deliver
possession by that date.

Signed: [owner or agent]    Date: [date]
Served by: [method] on [date]

Worked examples (2026-2027)

For the first row, the notice does not have to name the 31st or the 1st: the text says a notice is not void because its stated day does not match a rental period. It also does not say a stated day shorter than the interval ends the tenancy early, so do not state one.

Year to year, and the 24-hour notice

Subsection (3) says “The notice shall terminate the lease at the expiration of 1 year from the time of the service of the notice.” It can be given “at any time”, so the end date is a year after service, wherever that falls in the lease year. Subsection (4) creates a separate written 24-hour notice for lease clauses about controlled substances; it “applies only if a formal police report has been filed” alleging the conduct. It is not an ordinary way to end a tenancy; see an attorney before using it.

After the notice period

Section 600.5714(1)(c) covers a person who holds over after termination of the lease under a power in the lease or implied by law, after the term ends, or “After the termination of the person's estate by a notice to quit” under 554.134. Subsections (2) and (3) change this for tenants in housing run by a local government and mobile home park tenants, who are not holding over unless the tenancy ended for just cause as those subsections state. The case itself (summons, hearing, forms, fees) is court-rule territory outside these files.

Common mistakes

• Giving less than a full interval, or stating a day shorter than one.
• Using the 1-month rule for a year-to-year tenancy, or the reverse.
• Giving the notice orally, or by a method you cannot prove.
• Using the 7-day nonpayment route or the 24-hour notice for an ordinary move-out.
• Assuming the date is safe because it is a weekday; confirm the counting rule first.

Checked against the text published on legislature.mi.gov on 5 October 2026.

Sources

• MCL 554.134 — Michigan Legislature, Michigan Compiled Laws
• MCL 600.5714 — Michigan Legislature, Michigan Compiled Laws
• MCL 600.5718 — Michigan Legislature, Michigan Compiled Laws
• MCL 600.5716 — Michigan Legislature, Michigan Compiled Laws

Related guides

• Michigan Security Deposit: The 30-Day Notice of Damages
• Michigan Security Deposit Maximum: 1 1/2 Months' Rent
• Michigan Security Deposit Written Notice: 14-Day Rule, MCL 554.603
• Michigan Landlord Inventory Checklist Requirements (MCL 554.608)
• Michigan 45-Day Deposit Rule: Sue or Return, and Double Damages
• Michigan Deposit Refunds by Direct Deposit: The 2026 Change
• Michigan 7-Day Demand for Possession for Unpaid Rent
• Michigan Eviction Process: Summary Proceedings, Step by Step
• Michigan Landlord Lockout and Utility Shutoff: MCL 600.2918
• Michigan Lease Clauses Landlords Cannot Use (Truth in Renting)
• Michigan Source-of-Income Law and the 5-Unit Exemption

Informational only, not legal advice. Statute text checked against the Michigan Compiled Laws (MCL 554.131 to 554.139, 554.601 to 554.616, 554.631 to 554.641 and 600.2918, 600.5701 to 600.5759) as published at legislature.mi.gov on October 5, 2026. Statutes change and a court may read them differently than a summary does; for a dispute, an eviction or anything expensive to get wrong, talk to a Michigan landlord-tenant attorney.