Jackson, MI asked in Uncategorized for Michigan

Q: If we pay rent and lived here for 9 months can he legally evict us without court eviction notice?

My boyfriend and I lived here for 9 months helped fix up the house and get new appliances. There has been altercations where he thinks I need to do their dishes cause I'm currently unemployed from Covid19. He also gave us an eviction notice he downloaded and printed off from the internet and scribbled out the state and put Michigan (where we reside) He also gave it to us Aug 20 at 12am and we have to move out by Sep 19. 29 days. He tried telling me since I brought to his attention it's not legal to evict us without court eviction notice that we weren't living in his house legally. I don't get what he means when we had a verbal agreement that said we would pay $300 for the both of us to reside there. Could you tell me if he can legally evict us? Now he's saying he's going to order an expedited eviction online and evict us in 7 days. Please help.

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1 Lawyer Answer
Brent T. Geers
Brent T. Geers
Answered
  • Grand Rapids, MI
  • Licensed in Michigan

A: A landlord-tenant relationship can be formed as you are describing your current situation: you pay $300 a month, and he lets you stay there. When that is established, the legal process of eviction is the remedy. That starts with either a 30-day or 7-day "notice to quit"; in rare circumstances where criminal drug activity is alleged, it can be a 24-hour notice. Only after the expiration of those times can a landlord bring you to court under summary proceedings for eviction, but where you can also argue your case.

Since you have no written lease, you would be considered a tenant at will, which means either you can leave or the landlord can ask you to leave at any time with 30 days notice, for any reason. I cannot say whether the notice you received is proper or sufficient, but what is clear is that it's time for you to look for other places to live as soon as you can, quite possibly for your own sake and safety than anything else.

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