ILLEGAL LOCKOUTS
Regardless of whether a tenant fails to pay or violates a lease provision, a Michigan landlord cannot take matters into his own hands and conduct a "self-help" eviction. Michigan's Illegal Lockout Statute requires that proper procedures be followed. The same applies to the bank when a former homeowner stays in a home beyond the redemption period after foreclosure.
If force is used to remove or keep the former tenant out of the property, a landlord could be liable for up to three times the actual damages of the tenant. Illegal lockouts can occur when an inexperienced landlord fails to follow the proper termination of tenancy procedures. Sometimes overzealous realtors are responsible for the trashout of the belongings of a former homeowner following a mortgage foreclosure.
A defense to a claim of an illegal lockout by a bank or landlord may be successful if they had a good faith belief that the premises had been abandoned. However, it would be best to follow the proper procedures and have a court order the eviction rather than face the cost of defending an illegal lockout lawsuit.
MCL 600.2918 (commonly referred to as Michigan’s “anti-lockout statute) provides in part: (1) Any person who is ejected or put out of any lands or tenements in a forcible and unlawful manner, or being out is afterwards held and kept out, by force, if he prevails, is entitled to recover 3 times the amount of his actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, in addition to recovering possession.
(2) Any tenant in possession of premises whose possessory interest has been unlawfully interfered with by the owner, lessor, licensor or their agents shall be entitled to recover the amount of his actual damages or $200, whichever is greater, for each occurrence and, where possession has been lost, to recover possession. Unlawful interference with a possessory interest shall include:
a. The use of force or threat of force
b. The removal, retention, or destruction of personal property of the possessor.
c. A change, alteration, or addition to the locks or other security devices on the property without forthwith providing keys or other unlocking devices to the person in possession.