Holdover Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what Michigan law says, what's specific to Detroit - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Holding over is a ground for a possession case. § 600.5714(1)(c) allows summary proceedings against a person who holds over after the lease term, after a termination under the lease, or after a notice to quit under § 554.134.
- Money for the extra time comes through a damages claim. § 600.5739(1) lets a party join claims for "damages attributable to wrongful entry, detainer, or possession" or for breach of the lease, and a money claim may not exceed the amount that otherwise limits the court's jurisdiction.
- § 554.134(1) lets either party end an estate at will or by sufferance on 1 month's notice, or on notice equal to the interval between payments where rent is payable at periods of less than 3 months.
- § 600.2918(2) limits self-help. A tenant whose possession the owner unlawfully interferes with, including by changing the locks without providing keys or cutting off heat or water, may recover actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, for each occurrence.
- A text search of Chapter 554 turned up one doubling, the security deposit penalty in § 554.613(2). Our record of the Detroit City Code finds no holdover rent or holdover penalty of the city's own.
Understanding the Holdover Clause
A holdover clause sets the terms for the days after your lease ends and before the keys go back. Where it prints a penalty rate, a Detroit renter should know that the rate comes from the lease, not from a Michigan statute our record read.
Reading the two side by side is what this page is for.
No section we read in Mich. Comp. Laws Chapter 554, or in §§ 600.5714, 600.5739, 600.5741 and 600.2918, multiplies a holdover tenant's rent. What those sections describe is a procedure: a possession case under § 600.5714(1)(c), with a claim for money damages joined to it under § 600.5739(1).
Two more sections shape the days in between. § 554.134 sets the notice that ends an estate at will or by sufferance, and § 600.2918 limits what an owner may do to get the unit back without a court.
What renters assume
A lease that charges a premium for a holdover must be repeating a Michigan figure, so the higher rate starts the day the term ends.
What is actually true
No section we read in Chapter 554, or in §§ 600.5714, 600.5739, 600.5741 and 600.2918, multiplies a holdover tenant's rent. The one doubling a text search of Chapter 554 turned up is the security deposit penalty in § 554.613(2).
A premium in your lease is a term of the lease, and the landlord's money claim for the extra time runs through § 600.5739(1).
Six of the 18 rows in the comparison on this page carry a 2: New York City, Miami, Chicago, Phoenix, Washington and Newark. Twelve of the 18 rows carry no multiplier, and Detroit is one of them.
Those twelve do not all read alike. Nine of the labels read No multiplier, Detroit's among them, beside Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver, Atlanta, Nashville, Portland, Boston and Columbus.
Philadelphia reads "No statutory multiplier", Austin reads "No cap - lease controls", and Las Vegas reads "No rent multiplier (3x damages)".
Detroit's blank sits beside a Michigan number that is not a rent multiple. § 600.2918(2) sets actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, for each unlawful interference with a tenant's possession, which measures what an owner pays for self-help rather than what a tenant pays for staying.
Plain English Version
The Michigan sections our record read put no multiple on staying late. A landlord who wants the unit back goes to court for possession, and can join a claim for damages for the time you stayed or for breach of the lease.
Whatever premium the lease names is a lease term. If what you hold is an estate at will or by sufferance, 1 month's notice from either side ends it, or notice equal to the rent interval where rent is payable at periods of less than 3 months.
An owner who changes the locks without giving you keys, or cuts off heat or water, owes at least $200 for each occurrence unless an exception applies.
Holdover Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Detroit, MI
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
If the Lessee retains possession of the Premises after the term of this lease expires, the Lessor may either accept further rent payments by the Lessee, in which case a month-to-month tenancy shall be created, or sue for possession; and Lessor shall be entitled to recover from Lessee all damages sustained by him as a result of Lessee's failure to vacate the Premises, including but not limited to lost rent, court costs and attorneys fees. In no case shall a holdover tenancy be created. In the event Lessee retains possession without Lessor[']s consent beyond the term of this lease, the monthly rental shall be 150% of the rental for the original term.
Quoted from the published opinion in Roth v. Dillavou, No. 2—04—0840 (Ill. App. Ct., 2d Dist., Sept. 8, 2005). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
“lease expires, the Lessor may either accept further rent”
The lease offers the landlord a fork at expiry. Michigan's eviction statute frames the other branch. § 600.5714(1)(c) allows summary proceedings against a person who holds over “After the term for which the premises are demised to the person or to the person under whom he or she holds”. It also reaches a holdover after a termination under the lease, or after a notice to quit under § 554.134. Our Michigan record does not say what accepting rent after the term creates.
“to recover from Lessee all damages sustained by him as a result”
This is the clause's claim for the extra time, and Michigan's statute frames it the same way, as damages rather than a rate. § 600.5739(1) lets a party to summary proceedings join claims for “damages attributable to wrongful entry, detainer, or possession, for breach of the lease or contract under which the premises were held, or for waste or malicious destruction to the premises”.
“no case shall a holdover tenancy be created. In the event”
The lease tries to define the stay out of existence. Michigan's statute names it anyway: § 600.5714(1)(c) speaks of a person who “holds over”, and that is the section under which a landlord recovers possession by summary proceedings. The owner's conduct in the meantime is a separate question, and § 600.2918(2) answers it for a tenant whose possession the owner unlawfully interferes with: actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, for each occurrence.
“shall be 150% of the rental”
Here the lease names its own rate. No section our Michigan record read in Chapter 554, or in §§ 600.5714, 600.5739, 600.5741 and 600.2918, multiplies a holdover tenant's rent. A text search of the whole of Chapter 554 turned up one doubling, the security deposit penalty in § 554.613(2), which leaves the paragraph you signed as the document that states this figure.
The clause was enforced exactly as written. Because the lease itself said no holdover tenancy would arise - only a month-to-month one - the court held the original lease terms carried straight through the post-term period, which kept the tenant's co-signer on the hook for it. One judge dissented, warning that reading it this way exposes a guarantor to open-ended liability.
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Michigan Law on Holdover Clause
- Holding over is a ground for a possession case. Section 600.5714(1)(c) allows summary proceedings when a person holds over in any of three situations. They are "After termination of the lease, pursuant to a power to terminate provided in the lease or implied by law", "After the term for which the premises are demised to the person or to the person under whom he or she holds", and "After the termination of the person's estate by a notice to quit as provided by section 34 of 1846 RS 66, MCL 554.134."
- Section 554.134(1) lets either party end an estate at will or by sufferance on 1 month's notice, and where rent is payable at periods of less than 3 months, notice equal to the interval between payments is enough; the notice ends the tenancy at the end of a period equal in length to that interval. Section 554.134(2) lets a landlord end a tenancy for unpaid rent with a written 7-day notice to quit.
- Money for the extra time comes through a damages claim. Section 600.5739(1) lets a party to summary proceedings join claims for "damages attributable to wrongful entry, detainer, or possession, for breach of the lease or contract under which the premises were held, or for waste or malicious destruction to the premises", and a money claim may not exceed the amount that otherwise limits the court's jurisdiction.
- Section 600.2918(2) limits self-help. A tenant whose possession is unlawfully interfered with by the owner, including by force, by changing the locks without providing keys, or by cutting off heat, running water, hot water, electric or gas service, may recover actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, for each occurrence. That does not apply where the owner acts under a court order or another exception in § 600.2918(3), and § 600.2918(7) says the section may not be waived. These sections were read from archived copies of the Michigan Legislature's pages, so check the current text before relying on them.
Sources include Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5714(1)(c); Mich. Comp. Laws § 554.134; Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5739(1); Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.2918 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Michigan treats a holdover as a reason to go to court, and the sections our record read attach no rent multiple to it. Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5714(1)(c) allows summary proceedings to recover possession when a person holds over in any of three situations:
- "After termination of the lease, pursuant to a power to terminate provided in the lease or implied by law".
- "After the term for which the premises are demised to the person or to the person under whom he or she holds".
- "After the termination of the person's estate by a notice to quit as provided by section 34 of 1846 RS 66, MCL 554.134."
The notice the third situation refers to is in § 554.134. Under § 554.134(1) either party may end an estate at will or by sufferance on 1 month's notice.
Where rent is payable at periods of less than 3 months, notice equal to the interval between payments is enough, and the notice ends the tenancy at the end of a period equal in length to that interval.
§ 554.134(2) lets a landlord end a tenancy for unpaid rent with a written 7-day notice to quit.
Money for the extra time comes through a damages claim rather than a statutory rate. § 600.5739(1) lets a party to summary proceedings join claims for "damages attributable to wrongful entry, detainer, or possession, for breach of the lease or contract under which the premises were held, or for waste or malicious destruction to the premises". A money claim may not exceed the amount that otherwise limits the court's jurisdiction.
Our record's account of Chapter 554 rests on a text search of the Michigan Legislature's file of the whole chapter, rendered May 21, 2025 and marked complete through Public Act 4 of 2025. The one doubling that search turned up is the security deposit penalty in § 554.613(2).
Sections of the Revised Judicature Act other than §§ 600.5714, 600.5739, 600.5741 and 600.2918 are outside our record.
Self-help has a section of its own. § 600.2918(2) lets a tenant whose possession is unlawfully interfered with by the owner recover actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, for each occurrence. The interference it names includes force, changing the locks without providing keys, and cutting off heat, running water, hot water, electric or gas service.
That does not apply where the owner acts under a court order or another exception in § 600.2918(3), and § 600.2918(7) says the section may not be waived. These sections were read from archived copies of the Michigan Legislature's pages, so read their current text yourself before relying on any of them.
Michigan Tenant Protections
The sections our Michigan record read attach no multiple to a holdover tenant's rent, which leaves the paragraph you signed as the document that states any premium. The route back to the unit is a court case: § 600.5714(1)(c) allows summary proceedings against a person who holds over after the term, after a termination under the lease, or after a notice to quit under § 554.134.
Money for the extra time is claimed as damages, joined under § 600.5739(1) for wrongful entry, detainer, or possession or for breach of the lease, and capped by the amount that otherwise limits the court's jurisdiction.
Where the tenancy is an estate at will or by sufferance, § 554.134(1) ends it on 1 month's notice from either party, or on notice equal to the interval between payments where rent is payable at periods of less than 3 months. § 554.134(2) calls for a written 7-day notice to quit for unpaid rent.
Possession has a protection of its own. § 600.2918(2) gives a tenant whose possession the owner unlawfully interferes with actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, for each occurrence, naming force, changed locks without keys, and cut-off heat, running water, hot water, electric or gas service. It yields to a court order and the other exceptions in § 600.2918(3), and § 600.2918(7) says it may not be waived. Read the current text of these sections before relying on them.
What's Specific to Detroit
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Our record of the Detroit City Code, read on Municode's copy codified through Ordinance No. 2024-32, covers Chapter 22 (Housing) in full and a text search of Chapter 8, Article XV, the Property Maintenance Code. It finds no Detroit ordinance on holdover rent or a holdover penalty. The sections described on this page are Michigan's.
That is a statement about the chapters read, not a survey of every ordinance Detroit has adopted. Municode lists Detroit ordinances adopted after that codification that are not yet in the code text, and one of those would not appear in the copy our record read.
Check the current Detroit code before relying on the absence of a city rule.
For a Detroit renter the sequence runs through state law and the court. A landlord who wants the unit back after the term starts summary proceedings under § 600.5714(1)(c), and any claim for the extra time is joined as damages under § 600.5739(1).
A rate in the lease above your ordinary rent is the landlord's claim, not a figure the Michigan sections our record read supply.
Our record of Detroit's chapters adds no step of its own to that sequence. If a possession case is filed, the court papers and the date you received them are the first documents to keep, alongside the lease and any notice to quit.
Any money claim the landlord brings for the extra time would be joined to that case under § 600.5739(1).
Self-help is the other question at the end of a Detroit lease. § 600.2918(2) names changing the locks without providing keys, and cutting off heat, running water, hot water, electric or gas service, as unlawful interference, with actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, for each occurrence. § 600.2918(7) says the section may not be waived, so a lease line giving the owner a right to do any of that is worth showing to a lawyer. Keep dated photographs and messages if any of it happens.
For a Detroit holdover, read things in this order:
- The holdover paragraph in your lease, and the rate it names.
- Any notice to quit you received, with its date, against § 554.134.
- Any court papers for summary proceedings under § 600.5714(1)(c).
- Any money claim joined under § 600.5739(1), and what it is said to be for.
A Detroit tenant lawyer or legal aid office can weigh the lease rate against those sections before you pay a premium.
No section we read in Chapter 554, or in §§ 600.5714, 600.5739, 600.5741 and 600.2918, multiplies a holdover tenant's rent. A premium is a term of the lease.
A named figure can be set beside the damages a landlord may join under § 600.5739(1) for detainer, possession or breach of the lease.
§ 554.134(1) ends an estate at will or by sufferance on 1 month's notice, or notice equal to the rent interval where rent is payable at periods of less than 3 months.
§ 600.2918(2) treats changed locks without keys and cut-off heat, water, electric or gas service as unlawful interference, and § 600.2918(7) says the section may not be waived.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
-
A multiplier presented as Michigan law
Wording that attributes a doubled or higher rent to Michigan itself. No section our Michigan record read in Chapter 554 or the four Revised Judicature Act sections multiplies a holdover tenant's rent.
-
A lockout clause for the day after expiry
§ 600.2918(2) names changing the locks without providing keys as unlawful interference, with actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, for each occurrence, unless an exception in § 600.2918(3) applies.
-
Utilities cut to hurry a move-out
Cutting off heat, running water, hot water, electric or gas service is on the same list in § 600.2918(2), and § 600.2918(7) says the section may not be waived.
-
A notice to quit shorter than the rent interval
§ 554.134(1) lets either party end an estate at will or by sufferance on 1 month's notice, or on notice equal to the interval between payments where rent is payable at periods of less than 3 months. A clause promising less deserves a close read.
-
A damages figure with no account behind it
§ 600.5739(1) speaks of damages attributable to wrongful entry, detainer, or possession, or to breach of the lease. Ask in writing what any holdover charge is for.
Your Rights as a Detroit Tenant
-
No statutory multiple of your rent
No section we read in Chapter 554, or in §§ 600.5714, 600.5739, 600.5741 and 600.2918, multiplies a holdover tenant's rent.
-
Possession decided in summary proceedings
§ 600.5714(1)(c) sets out the three holdover situations in which a landlord may recover possession by summary proceedings.
-
Notice matched to the rent interval
Under § 554.134(1), where rent is payable at periods of less than 3 months, notice equal to the interval between payments ends an estate at will or by sufferance.
-
$200 or actual damages for self-help
§ 600.2918(2) gives a tenant whose possession the owner unlawfully interferes with actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, for each occurrence, and § 600.2918(7) says it may not be waived.
What To Do - Step by Step
Find the end date and the holdover rate
Open the lease and note the date the term ends and the exact rate the holdover paragraph names. That rate is a lease term, not a figure from the Michigan sections our record read.
Keep every notice and its date
Photograph any notice to quit and note the day it arrived. § 554.134(1) sets 1 month's notice for an estate at will or by sufferance, or notice equal to the rent interval where rent is payable at periods of less than 3 months.
Ask what any damages claim is for
A claim joined under § 600.5739(1) is for damages attributable to wrongful entry, detainer, or possession, or for breach of the lease. Ask for the items in writing before you pay.
Document any lockout or shut-off
Changed locks without keys and cut-off heat, running water, hot water, electric or gas service are named in § 600.2918(2), with actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, for each occurrence. Date every photograph and message.
Check the code and the statute text today
Our record of the Detroit City Code runs through Ordinance No. 2024-32, and later ordinances are not covered. The Michigan sections were read from archived copies, so read their current text yourself.
Get local advice before paying a premium
Take the lease, any notice and any court papers to a Detroit tenant lawyer or legal aid office. Bring the date the term ended and a record of every payment made since.