As a condo owner in Michigan, you have exclusive possession of the space inside your unit and a shared ownership interest in the common elements, and you owe the association timely assessments and compliance with its bylaws. The Michigan Condominium Act (Act 59 of 1978) sets the framework for condo owner rights and responsibilities in Michigan, layered with federal fair housing law, the Nonprofit Corporation Act, and your specific master deed and bylaws. Knowing which document controls which question is most of the battle.
What You Own and What the Association Owns
Your ownership has two parts. The first is your unit itself, defined by the boundaries drawn on the condominium subdivision plan attached to the master deed. The second is an undivided interest in the common elements: lobbies, hallways, pools, parking structures, building exteriors, and shared mechanical systems.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws – Act 59 of 1978
The line between the two matters more than almost anything else. It determines who pays for repairs, who carries insurance, and who has authority over modifications. If a pipe bursts inside your wall, whether it’s your problem or the association’s turns on where the master deed draws the boundary. Read those definitions carefully, because they vary from project to project.
Inside your unit, you can modify the interior, but not in ways that compromise the building’s structural integrity or violate the master deed or bylaws.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws – Act 59 of 1978 Removing a load-bearing wall or swapping out exterior windows without board approval is the kind of move that triggers enforcement.
Paying Assessments
Every unit owner must pay assessments to fund the association’s operations. The Condominium Act requires that common expenses be apportioned among owners based on each unit’s percentage of value as set in the master deed, unless the master deed provides a different formula.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws – Act 59 of 1978 Regular assessments cover recurring costs: insurance premiums, landscaping, utilities for common areas, management fees, and contributions to reserves.
The board sets the annual budget, and your assessment flows from that budget. When the board underestimates costs or a major unexpected expense arises, it can levy a special assessment. Special assessment authority varies. Some bylaws give the board unilateral power up to a certain dollar amount; others require a membership vote for anything above routine operations. Check your governing documents before a five-figure surprise lands in your mailbox.
Falling behind on assessments is not something to treat casually. Under MCL 559.208, unpaid assessments plus interest, late charges, attorney fees, and collection costs automatically become a lien on your unit, and that lien has priority over nearly all other claims except state and federal tax liens and a first mortgage recorded before the notice of lien.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 559.208 – Assessment Lien; Priority The details of what happens next are covered further down.
Reserves and Financial Transparency
Michigan requires every condominium association to maintain a reserve fund for major repairs and replacement of common elements, at a minimum of 10% of the association’s current annual budget on a noncumulative basis.3Legal Information Institute. Michigan Admin Code R 559.511 – Reserve Fund for Major Repairs The rule itself warns that this minimum “may prove to be inadequate for a particular project.” For most aging buildings, it is. A community with a $200,000 annual budget holds only $20,000 under the floor, which will not cover a single roof replacement.
You are entitled to see the association’s books. The Act requires bylaws to direct designated persons to keep detailed accounts of expenditures and receipts, and unit owners have the right to access those records.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws – Act 59 of 1978 A board that stonewalls a records request is violating the Act. If your board won’t show you where the money goes, that’s the single biggest red flag in condo governance.
The Rules You Must Follow
You must follow your association’s bylaws. They commonly address noise, pets, rental restrictions, and exterior appearance. You also owe your neighbors a baseline level of cooperation, because shared walls and shared infrastructure mean shared consequences. Most of the friction in condo communities comes from owners who treat their unit as if it were a detached house.
The board’s rulemaking power has limits, and two are worth knowing.
Assistance Animals
Federal fair housing law overrides any condo association pet ban when a resident with a disability needs an assistance animal, including emotional support animals. Under HUD guidance, the association must grant a reasonable accommodation unless it can show the specific animal would pose a direct threat to health or safety, cause significant property damage, or impose an undue burden on the association.4U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Assistance Animals The association cannot charge a pet deposit or fee for an assistance animal. If the disability and need for the animal aren’t obvious, the association may request reliable supporting information, but broad demands for medical records go too far.
Familial Status and Other Protected Classes
Condo associations are subject to federal fair housing law more broadly, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability. An association that restricts families with children to certain buildings, or refuses to make reasonable modifications for a disabled resident, faces federal liability regardless of what the bylaws say.
EV Charging: No Statewide Right
As of 2026, Michigan does not have a statewide “right to charge” law preventing associations from blocking EV charger installations. A bill (HB 5109) was introduced to amend the Condominium Act and give owners the right to install charging equipment in their designated parking spaces, but it had not been enacted as of its last legislative session. Without that law, your ability to install a charger depends entirely on your bylaws and board approval.
Insurance: The Master Policy and Your Gap
Nearly every association carries a master insurance policy covering building exteriors, common areas, shared systems, and general liability. What that policy covers inside individual units depends on whether it’s a “bare walls” policy (covering only the structural shell) or an “all-in” policy (covering original interior finishes like builder-installed flooring and countertops). You need to know which type your association carries, because the gap is your responsibility.
An individual HO-6 policy picks up where the master policy stops. It typically covers personal belongings, interior fixtures and improvements, loss-of-use expenses if your unit becomes uninhabitable, and personal liability for injuries or damage originating inside your unit. If your association carries a bare-walls policy, your HO-6 needs to cover everything from the drywall inward.
Michigan’s Condominium Act requires the bylaws to address what happens when a building is partially or completely destroyed, including how insurance proceeds are handled.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws – Act 59 of 1978 The bylaws must provide that administration receipts include insurance proceeds for liabilities or losses connected with the common elements or project administration.
Buying or Selling a Unit
The Nine-Day Withdrawal Right
Michigan gives condominium purchasers a protection many buyers don’t realize they have. You may withdraw from a signed purchase agreement without cause and without penalty within nine business days after receiving the required disclosure documents, as long as the unit has not yet been conveyed to you.5Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 559.184 – Condominium Act (Excerpt) The purchase agreement itself must include a statement informing you of this right. This rescission period does not apply to business condominium units. During the nine days, any deposit you’ve made must be held in escrow and returned if you withdraw.
The clock starts when you receive the disclosure documents. If you haven’t received them, the clock hasn’t started, and your withdrawal right remains open until you do receive them or the unit is conveyed.
What to Ask For on a Resale
When a unit changes hands on the secondary market, you need a clear picture of the association’s financial health and governance. Request and review the current budget, financial statements, reserve fund balance, insurance coverage summary, and any pending special assessments or litigation. Some associations or their management companies charge a fee to compile this package. Reviewing these documents before closing is the single best way to avoid inheriting someone else’s financial problems.
When You Get a Vote: The Transition From Developer Control
Every unit owner in a Michigan condominium automatically belongs to the association of co-owners, and the board is elected by its members. In a newer project, though, the developer controls the board at first, and Michigan phases in owner voting power based on how many units have been sold to non-developer owners.6Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 559.152 – Condominium Act (Excerpt)
- At 25% of units conveyed, non-developer owners must elect at least one director and no fewer than 25% of the board within 120 days.
- At 50%, non-developer owners must elect at least one-third of the board within 120 days.
- At 75% (and before 90%), non-developer owners elect the entire board, except the developer may keep one seat as long as it still owns and offers for sale at least 10% of the units.
During the early phase, the Act requires an advisory committee of non-developer owners to consult with the developer on budgets, common element maintenance, and other management decisions. That committee dissolves once non-developer owners hold a majority of board seats.6Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 559.152 – Condominium Act (Excerpt) If you are buying into a newer project where the developer still controls the board, pay attention to where the project falls in this timeline. Developers sometimes defer maintenance or underfund reserves during the period they control spending, leaving owners to inherit shortfalls after transition.
Board Conflicts of Interest
Board members owe fiduciary duties to the association. When a director has a personal financial interest in a transaction, Michigan’s Nonprofit Corporation Act provides a framework: a conflicted transaction will not be set aside if the transaction was fair to the association when entered into, or the board approved it after full disclosure by a majority of disinterested directors, or the membership approved it after full disclosure by a majority of disinterested members.7Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws – Nonprofit Corporation Act The safest practice is for a conflicted board member to disclose the interest, recuse from the vote, and let the remaining directors decide.
Resolving Disputes
Conflicts in condo communities follow predictable patterns: rule enforcement, noise, maintenance responsibilities, assessment disputes, and governance challenges. Michigan’s Condominium Act builds a preference for private resolution into the structure of every project.
Arbitration and Mediation
The Act requires the bylaws to include an arbitration provision. Disputes arising from the interpretation or application of the condominium documents, or disputes among co-owners, may be submitted to binding arbitration if both parties elect to do so in writing.8Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 559.154 – Condominium Act (Excerpt) The American Arbitration Association’s commercial rules govern the process. Once parties consent, the arbitrator’s decision is final and binding, and they cannot then take the dispute to court.
Mediation is a less formal option where a neutral third party helps the disputants reach their own agreement. It isn’t binding, so if it fails both sides retain their other remedies. Mediation works best for disputes where the parties need to continue living as neighbors, like noise or pet issues. Arbitration is better suited to disputes where you need a definitive answer, such as whether a modification violates the master deed.
Court Action
When neither party elects arbitration, Michigan courts have full jurisdiction over condominium disputes.8Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 559.154 – Condominium Act (Excerpt) Owners or associations can file suit to enforce the governing documents, seek injunctions against ongoing violations, or recover monetary damages. Court proceedings are more expensive and slower than arbitration, and they create a public record, which is why most condominium attorneys recommend exhausting other options first.
What Happens If You Fall Behind on Assessments
The lien under MCL 559.208 is the association’s most powerful enforcement tool. Before foreclosing, the association must record a notice of lien with the county register of deeds and serve it on you by first-class mail at least 10 days before starting the foreclosure proceeding. The notice must identify the unit, name the owner of record, and state the amounts due.9Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 559.208 – Condominium Act (Excerpt)
Foreclosure then follows the same procedures as a real estate mortgage foreclosure, either by advertisement or judicial action. The redemption period is six months from the date of sale, or just one month if the unit has been abandoned. The association can also sue for a money judgment without foreclosing, or combine both actions in a single case. At a foreclosure sale, the association itself may bid on the unit unless the master deed or bylaws prohibit it.
Once attorney fees and interest start compounding, the numbers move fast. If you’re in financial trouble, contact the board or the management company early. A payment plan is easier to negotiate before a lien is recorded than after.