Additional Michigan Statutes
Thirteen of the 40 items — a third of the Michigan content, and the area the stale 2016/2017 bulletin understates by seven. Ten separate acts, each with one or two testable numbers.
Land Division Act and Private Roads
1967 PA 288, MCL 560.101 et seq., renamed the land division act by 1996 PA 591 and still carrying the popular names Plat Act and Subdivision Control, governs how land is divided and platted. The disclosure the outline names is MCL 560.261: no person may sell a lot in a recorded plat or a parcel of unplatted land in an unincorporated area abutting a street or road not accepted as public unless the seller first informs the purchaser in writing, on a separate instrument attached to the conveyance, that the road is private and is not required to be maintained by the board of county road commissioners. A contract made in violation is voidable at the purchaser's option. Michigan's separate Land Sales Act, 1972 PA 286, was repealed in full by 2010 PA 49 — do not study from material that still teaches it.
Michigan Fair Housing
The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, 1976 PA 453, recognizes the right to obtain housing and other real estate without discrimination because of religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, height, weight, familial status or marital status (MCL 37.2102(1)). MCL 37.2502 applies that to real estate transactions — no refusal to deal, no discriminatory terms, no refusal to transmit a bona fide offer, no misrepresenting availability, no discriminatory advertising or application forms, no discriminatory listings, no discrimination in brokering or appraising, and no denial of access to a multiple listing service — and MCL 37.2502(3) now forbids a landlord of 5 or more rental units to discriminate on a tenant's source of income. MCL 37.2506 is Michigan's blockbusting section: no representing, to induce a transaction from which you may benefit financially, that the composition of a block or neighborhood has changed or may change, or that such a change will lower values, raise crime or worsen schools. The Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act, 1976 PA 220, adds MCL 37.1502, which turns on whether the disability is unrelated to the individual's ability to acquire, rent or maintain property. MCL 339.2515(1) requires every Michigan listing agreement to state that discrimination is prohibited.
Landlord and Tenant, and Truth in Renting
Under 1972 PA 348 the security deposit may not exceed 1½ months' rent (MCL 554.602); the landlord has 14 days from the tenant taking possession to give written notice of its name and address, the depository, and the tenant's duty to give a forwarding address within 4 days of moving (MCL 554.603); an itemized list of damages with the balance must be mailed within 30 days after termination of occupancy, and the tenant has 7 days to respond or forfeit (MCL 554.609); and the landlord has 45 days after termination of occupancy to sue for a money judgment (MCL 554.613(1)). Failing to comply fully waives all claimed damages and makes the landlord liable for double the amount retained. The Truth in Renting Act, 1978 PA 454, voids a long list of lease clauses — waiving habitability remedies or security deposit rights, discriminating, confession of judgment, exculpating the lessor, waiving a jury trial, shifting attorney fees, taking a security interest in the tenant's property, unqualified rent acceleration, waiving eviction procedure, releasing the duty to mitigate, requiring a power of attorney, or letting the lessor change the agreement without the tenant's written consent (MCL 554.633). MCL 554.634 requires the agreement to state the address for notices and to carry the statutory notice in type no smaller than 12 point.
Usury
MCL 438.31 sets the legal rate of interest at 5% and lets the parties stipulate in writing for any rate not exceeding 7% per annum — but the act does not apply where the rate is regulated by another Michigan or federal law, which is why regulated mortgage lending is not held to 7%. MCL 438.41 is the criminal statute: knowingly charging, taking or receiving interest at a rate exceeding 25% simple interest per annum, when not authorized by law to do so, is criminal usury, punishable by up to 5 years or a $10,000.00 fine, or both.
State Transfer Tax
Two taxes, two acts. The county tax under 1966 PA 134 is 55 cents for each $500.00 of value in a county under 2,000,000 population, and up to 75 cents where the county board so authorizes in a county of 2,000,000 or more (MCL 207.504). The state tax under 1993 PA 330 is $3.75 for each $500.00 or fraction of $500.00 (MCL 207.525(1)) — so $4.30 per $500 combined in most counties. The instrument must state the total value on its face or carry an affidavit declaring it. MCL 207.526 exempts instruments given as security, leases, conveyances to a child, stepchild or grandchild, conveyances creating or ending a tenancy by the entireties, corrective deeds, land contracts before legal title passes, court-ordered transfers without specified monetary consideration, and instruments given in foreclosure or in lieu of it.
Condominium Act
Under 1978 PA 59 the developer must give a residential purchaser the recorded master deed, a conforming purchase agreement and escrow agreement, a condominium buyer's handbook and a disclosure statement (MCL 559.184a). The purchaser may then withdraw from a signed purchase agreement without cause or penalty within 9 business days after receiving those documents — counting the day of receipt if it is a business day — and before conveyance (MCL 559.184(2)). Escrowed funds come back within 3 business days after withdrawal. The right may be waived only in exceptional cases, in writing, by a purchaser who received all the documents (MCL 559.184(5)), and the section does not apply to business condominium units. On the rental side, a co-owner must disclose an intent to lease in writing to the association at least 10 days before presenting a lease and supply a copy of the exact lease for review (MCL 559.212(2)); the association gives the co-owner 15 days to cure a tenant's breach before suing (MCL 559.212(4)) and may direct a tenant to pay rent to it where the co-owner is in arrears on assessments (MCL 559.212(5)).
MSHDA
The State Housing Development Authority Act of 1966, 1966 PA 346, MCL 125.1401 et seq., finds a pressing need for safe and sanitary housing within the financial means of low and moderate income families and persons and makes it a valid public purpose to finance the acquisition, rehabilitation and construction of that housing and to make purchase financing available at affordable rates. For a broker that means down-payment assistance and mortgage products a qualifying buyer may use. MSHDA does not license brokers, hold their escrow money or set zoning.
Antitrust
The Michigan Antitrust Reform Act, 1984 PA 274 — the act the outline calls the Uniform State Anti-trust Act — makes unlawful any contract, combination or conspiracy between 2 or more persons in restraint of, or to monopolize, trade or commerce in a relevant market (MCL 445.772), and separately reaches establishing, maintaining, using or attempting a monopoly to exclude or limit competition or to control, fix or maintain prices (MCL 445.773). Competing brokerages agreeing on a commission rate is the paradigm violation, complete on the agreement, regardless of whether anyone can prove a consumer was harmed.
Right to Farm
MCL 286.473c(1) says a seller of property within 1 mile of the boundary of a farm or farm operation MAY VOLUNTARILY make available a statement that generally accepted agricultural and management practices may generate usual and ordinary noise, dust and odors and are protected by the Right to Farm Act. Despite the outline heading "Seller's Disclosure Required", that notice is optional. What is required is the Seller's Disclosure Statement itself, which asks the seller whether a farm or farm operation is in the vicinity (MCL 565.957). MCL 286.473b lets a farm that prevails in a nuisance action recover its actual costs and reasonable attorney fees. Note that MCL 286.473c(2) still cross-refers to the repealed land sales act at MCL 565.808.
Land Contracts and Dodd-Frank
Seller financing of a residence now has to clear a federal screen. 12 CFR 1026.36(a)(5) excludes a natural person, estate or trust financing the sale of only one property it owns in any 12-month period, provided it did not build the residence in the ordinary course of business and the financing has no negative amortization and a fixed rate or a rate first adjustable after five or more years with reasonable caps. 12 CFR 1026.36(a)(4) is the wider three-property exclusion, and it adds two conditions: the financing must be fully amortizing, and the seller must determine in good faith that the buyer has a reasonable ability to repay. Neither exclusion is available to someone who built the house in the ordinary course of business.
Seller Disclosure Act
1993 PA 92 covers transfers of an interest in 1 to 4 residential dwelling units, whether by sale, exchange, installment land contract, lease with an option to purchase, or a transfer of an interest in a residential cooperative (MCL 565.952). The statement must reach the prospective transferee before the transferor executes a binding purchase agreement (MCL 565.954(1)(a)). If it arrives late, the transferee may terminate by written notice within 72 hours if it was delivered in person, or 120 hours if by registered mail — a right that expires on transfer by deed or installment sales contract (MCL 565.954(3)-(4)). The seller reports actual knowledge in good faith, meaning honesty in fact (MCL 565.960), completes the form himself, and checks UNKNOWN rather than guessing. It is a disclosure, not a warranty: the transferor is not liable for an error outside his personal knowledge (MCL 565.955(1)), and a transfer is not invalidated solely because someone failed to comply (MCL 565.964).
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State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- Michigan Dept. of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA)
- Exam vendor
- PSI
- Prelicensing education
- 90 hours of approved broker prelicensure education (in addition to the salesperson's 40)
- Passing score
- 75% (raw score of 90)
- Scored questions
- 115
- Time limit
- 210 minutes
Who regulates real estate brokers in Michigan?
The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), through the Board of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons, licenses brokers under Article 25 of the Occupational Code (MCL 339.2501 to 339.2518). LARA contracts with PSI to administer the licensing exam. The current administrative rules are R 339.22101 to R 339.22165, effective June 4, 2025; the older rule numbers from R 339.22201 onward have all been rescinded.
What experience do I need before the Michigan broker exam?
MCL 339.2505(7) requires the equivalent of three years of full-time experience in the business of real estate — which is a credit schedule, not a calendar. A licensed salesperson earns one year of credit for each 12-month period in which she closed five or more real estate transactions, so holding a license without closing anything earns no credit. The statute also credits builders, investors (capped at one year), attorneys, licensed appraisers and full-time real estate finance or conveyancing work, and R 339.22115 adds credit for out-of-state licensees and for managing at least 10 Michigan units for three or more years. On top of that, brokers complete 90 clock hours of approved prelicensure classroom courses, at least 9 of them on civil rights and fair housing law, within the 36 months before applying unless they held an active salesperson license through that period.
How is the Michigan broker exam structured?
PSI delivers one integrated exam of 115 scored questions worth 120 points in 210 minutes; passing is 75%, a raw score of 90. There is no separate Michigan state portion — PSI bulletin 837 never uses the phrase — so 40 of the scored items are Michigan law and rules and the other 75 are the percentage-weighted national block. The 40 Michigan items are published as 3 on the duties and powers of the Department and the Board, 4 on licensing requirements, 15 on the statutes governing licensee activities, 5 on contractual relationships, and 13 on additional state topics. (Salespersons sit the same 115 questions for 180 minutes at 70%, a raw score of 80.) Older mirrored copies of the Michigan bulletin from 2016-2017 say 120 questions and only 6 additional-state-topic items; those are out of date.
How much continuing education does a Michigan license need?
Eighteen clock hours per license cycle — and, since 2023 PA 246 took effect on February 13, 2024, at least 2 hours of law, rules and court cases plus at least 1 hour of fair housing in every year of the cycle, with the remaining 9 hours completable at any point. Evidence must be kept for at least four years (MCL 339.2504a; R 339.22161).
Sources: https://test-takers.psiexams.com/api/content/bulletin/837, https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-339-2505, https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-339-2504a, https://ars.apps.lara.state.mi.us/AdminCode/DownloadAdminCodeFile?FileName=R%20339.22101%20to%20R%20339.22667.pdf
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