Rental Requirements

New Rental Ordinance

In October 2024, City Council passed a new law overhauling the City’s process for inspecting rental homes. The new process aims to significantly improve safety and quality, while simplifying requirements for property owners.

A summary of the changes is available here.

BSEED is working to launch the new system in early 2025. Register your rental property with BSEED to receive email updates on the new system.

This page aims to clarify current state and local requirements for operating a rental property in the city of Detroit. Rental housing registration and certification laws and ordinances exist to help Michigan cities identify and regulate rental units to ensure safer and better quality housing for tenants and the surrounding community. Under the Michigan Housing Law (MCL 125.401, et seq.), cities are authorized to regulate multi-family rental housing, including requiring that a Certificate of Compliance be obtained prior to occupancy of a rental unit. Detroit also adopted a local ordinance to regulate one- and two-family rental properties, which account for a large supply of rental units across the city.

Review the City of Detroit’s Rental Property Ordinance.

Landlords and rental property managers are responsible for the majority of Detroit’s housing units, and therefore play a pivotal role in the stabilization and revitalization of Detroit’s neighborhoods. BSEED, has developed a Landlord Compliance Manual to help landlords easily access critical information and resources to operate their business in the city. The Landlord Compliance Manual is intended to provide clarity to landlords on the City’s ordinance requirements, simplify the process for reaching compliance, and help connect landlords to cost-saving resources to improve their properties.