Michigan landlords must now offer a fee-free way to pay rent

Michigan landlords now have to give tenants at least one way to pay rent that doesn't carry an extra fee, under one of four bipartisan bills Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed on September 21. A second bill lets landlords return security deposits by direct deposit or another electronic transfer, so renters aren't stuck waiting on a check in the mail.

Senate Bill 373, sponsored by state Sen. Mary Cavanagh, a Redford Township Democrat, requires every rental agreement to include at least one payment method with no added fee. If a landlord's online portal charges to pay, the tenant has to be offered another way that doesn't. Senate Bill 22, from state Sen. Sarah Anthony, a Lansing Democrat, covers the electronic deposit refunds.

"My bill requires landlords to offer tenants one fee-free way to pay rent, ensuring unnecessary fees aren't pricing families out of housing," Cavanagh said in the governor's announcement.

Those fees add up for people with little room in their budgets, said Hurley J. Coleman III, executive director of the Saginaw Community Action Center, in an interview with WNEM. "Fifteen to $45 and $50 in processing fees can be what someone can put in their gas tank or something that they don't have," he said.

What a card fee costs in Michigan cities

Rent portals commonly charge a percentage to pay by card, and our guide to paying rent with a credit card covers how those surcharges work. At a 3% fee, a Detroit renter paying the city's typical rent of $1,341 would owe about $40 more each month, or $483 a year. In Saginaw, where typical rent is $1,071 and rose 8.0% over the past year, the same fee comes to about $32 a month.

The fees land hardest where rent already takes the most income. Detroit's typical rent eats 40.3% of the city's $39,938 median household income, the highest share in the table, and Saginaw's takes 33.3%. We've looked at why Detroit's low sticker price is misleading in Detroit rent looks cheap, but the wages tell a different story. Michigan also joins a growing list of places going after rental add-on charges, which we've tracked in states cracking down on rental junk fees.

Security deposits by direct deposit

Senate Bill 22 lets landlords send deposit refunds electronically, which should shorten the gap between moving out and getting the money back. "Modernizing the rental security deposit return process reduces hurdles and headaches for renters and landlords alike," Anthony said. The governor's announcement didn't list an effective date for the bills. For what landlords can and can't keep, see our guide to getting your security deposit back.

A third bill in the package, Senate Bill 1013 from state Sen. Jeremy Moss, a Bloomfield Democrat, bars insurers from using price optimization, setting rates based on how much a customer seems willing to pay. It writes into law a 2024 bulletin from the Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services. The fourth bill, from state Sen. Stephanie Chang, keeps Michigan's anti-kickback law from blocking federally approved patient incentives.

Sources

• Office of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (September 21, 2026), for the bills, sponsors, and sponsor quotes

• WNEM (September 24, 2026), for Coleman's comments

• Mid-Michigan Now, for additional detail on the payment and deposit bills

• RentDataNow Michigan rent data, anchored to the Zillow Observed Rent Index, August 2026, with median household income from the US Census Bureau