06/12/2026
📢MMTRC in the news 📰 :
"The coalition is threatening to sue Detroit’s 36th District Court unless it stops landlords from obtaining eviction judgments and collecting rent on properties that have not passed city safety inspections.
In a June 11 demand letter to Chief Judge William C. McConico, attorneys for the Detroit Tenants Union and four unnamed tenants argue that the court is allowing landlords to pursue nonpayment eviction cases even when they lack a valid Certificate of Compliance, a city-issued document showing a rental property has passed inspection.
The stakes are enormous in a city where only about 14% of rental properties have valid certificates, according to the letter. If the attorneys’ argument is correct, a vast majority of Detroit rental properties are owned by landlords with no legal right to collect rent.
By its plain language, Detroit City Code §8-15-82(h) makes it unlawful for an owner or agent to collect rent from a tenant “during or for any time in which there is not a valid Certificate of Compliance for the rental property.”
The letter asks McConico to issue an administrative order making clear that landlords cannot receive judgments for rent or possession in nonpayment cases for any period when a property lacked a valid certificate. If the court does not act, the attorneys say they are prepared to sue in Wayne County Circuit Court to force the 36th District Court to enforce the ordinance, which they argue bars landlords without valid Certificates of Compliance from collecting rent or obtaining nonpayment eviction judgments.
“Having landlords come into court and request the might of the state to evict people and enforce these contracts, when they themselves are not upholding them, is absurd,” Donovan McCarty, director of the Housing Justice Clinic at Michigan State University College of Law and one of the attorneys behind the demand letter, tells Metro Times. “It’s happened for years.”
The demand letter is signed by Benjamin P. Christensen of Christensen Counsel PLLC, who also serves as policy and education director for the Tenant Resource Center of Mid-Michigan, and McCarty of the Michigan State University Housing Justice Clinic. The request is also backed by a wide-ranging coalition of legal aid and tenant advocates, including leaders or attorneys from the United Community Housing Coalition, Michigan Legal Services, Lakeshore Legal Aid, Sugar Law Center, Detroit Justice Center, the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights, and the Tenant Resource Center of Mid-Michigan."
The city says it has stepped up enforcement while streamlining the process for landlords to get Certificates of Compliance. Officials say they have added residential inspectors, are sending reminders before certificates expire, and are referring chronic violators to the Law Department.
