Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Michigan

My original lease was set to expire June 15 and we were not in the position of being able to leave due to delays in closing on a home we were purchasing. We have 5 children and I am 9 months pregnant such that the options were very limited for us on where to go. Our (single woman) landlord stated initially that she would extend the lease to a maximum of August 15 but then changed her mind when she became pregnant. THEN when we tried to appeal to her she stated that we could extend the lease but at an additional $1500/month. Our lease has been $1850/month, so for the month of June15-July 15 we paid $1850 plus $1500. She stated that she wanted to return to the home because of a difficult pregnancy and wanting to be in a stable and secure environment. She clearly indicated that she was going to stay in the home ongoing. We have just learned that this landlord had been discussing with the real estate agent (same one who negotiated the original lease and then the one month extension) ongoing plans to rent the home later in the summer after she did some home renovations; She has collected $2775 in our security deposit and only returned $1800, the remainder of which she has kept to "mulch and fertilize" the lawn. Bottom line: can we file in small claims court for landlord misrepresenting herself/lying and manipulating to get more monies from us, because she knew we were in a vulnerable position having a family with no where to go? We believe she collected this money as well as part of our security deposit for home improvements based on advertised pictures as the home is available for lease now, and that she wanted us out to do these home improvements to increase the rent, that she is now asking $2200/month. Do we have even a chance to regain any of the additional $1500 based off of her e mails to us, some e mails indicating ongoing talks with landlord sent from real estate agent (after we had moved out the agent told us about it and then we discovered the ad on Real Estate.com). Thanks.


Asked on 8/25/10, 3:31 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Timothy Klisz Klisz Law Office, PLLC

I think you have a good shot at the deposit funds because that sounds like a lot of money to mulch and fertilize a lawn, which I assume you did not destroy. The rest of the funds are hers because you contracted for them. No case there. Good luck. kliszlaw.com. Tim Klisz

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Answered on 8/30/10, 3:44 pm


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