Which Michigan Laws Govern Your HOA or Condo?

Michigan is one of the most commonly misunderstood states for community-association law. Most homeowners assume their single-family subdivision runs on an HOA statute — but Michigan never enacted one. Instead, a structure called the site condominium brought most modern subdivisions under the Condominium Act. For your specific situation, a licensed Michigan attorney is the right resource. This is general information, not legal advice.

The two Michigan community-association structures

Site condominiums: the Michigan Condominium Act (MCL 559.101 et seq.)

Despite the name, a "site condominium" is the common Michigan structure for single-family detached subdivisions developed after 1978. Each home sits on a defined unit (the building site itself); the surrounding land may be limited common area assigned to that unit; and the roads, open spaces, and amenities are typically general common area managed by the association of co-owners.

If you live in a site condominium, the Condominium Act controls:

• Assessment lien (MCL 559.208) — reaches assessments, interest, late charges, collection costs, attorney fees, and fines
• Foreclosure with a 6-month redemption period (potentially 1 month if abandoned)
• The Master Deed and bylaws as the operating documents

Traditional platted subdivision HOAs

If your subdivision was created under the Michigan Land Division Act (formerly the Subdivision Control Act of 1967) with traditional lots rather than condo "units," it is a traditional HOA. Michigan has no statute parallel to Chapter 559 for these communities. They run on:

• The recorded covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) — the source of all the association's authority
• The Michigan Nonprofit Corporation Act, MCL 450.2101 et seq. — entity law if the HOA is incorporated

How to tell which you live in

The recorded Master Deed for a site condo or the recorded plat and CC&Rs for a traditional HOA tell you which structure applies. The terminology in your governing documents is the giveaway:

• "Master Deed" + "co-owners" + "units" + "common elements" → site condominium under Chapter 559
• "Plat" + "lot owners" + "lots" + "covenants" → traditional plat-based HOA

If you are unsure, a licensed Michigan attorney can review your recorded documents and confirm.

Do the covenants still bind? The Marketable Record Title Act

Whether a community's restrictions are still enforceable can also turn on the Marketable Record Title Act (MRTA), which can extinguish old recorded interests that are not re-preserved within the Act's look-back window. A 2018 amendment created recording obligations for associations, and the deadline has been extended more than once. Most recently, House Bill 4524 of 2025 (signed September 29, 2025) extended the deadline to September 29, 2027 and clarified the rules: restrictions in declarations or instruments "initially executed and recorded on or after January 1, 1950" are protected and will not expire (MCL 565.104(1)(g)), and condominiums are likewise protected. The communities that still need to record a notice of claim before September 29, 2027 are generally older subdivisions and summer-resort associations whose restrictions were first recorded before January 1, 1950. Whether a particular association must record a notice is a fact-specific question for a licensed Michigan attorney.

The Nonprofit Corporation Act (MCL 450.2101 et seq.)

Whether site condo or plat HOA, most Michigan community associations are incorporated as nonprofits under the Michigan Nonprofit Corporation Act. That entity law supplies director duties, member-meeting and voting procedures, and recordkeeping requirements.

How the layers fit

1. The recorded Master Deed (site condo) or CC&Rs (plat HOA) — the community's own documents.
2. The Michigan Condominium Act (MCL 559.101 et seq.) — for traditional condos and site condos.
3. No HOA-specific statute for traditional plat HOAs — covenant law and the Nonprofit Corporation Act fill the gap.
4. The Michigan Nonprofit Corporation Act (MCL 450.2101 et seq.) for the incorporated entity.
5. Federal law — Fair Housing Act, ADA, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, OTARD, and the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act.

From records to fines to the assessment lien, the site-condo vs. plat-HOA distinction is the starting point for most Michigan homeowner questions.

Sources

• MCL Act 59 of 1978 — Michigan Condominium Act
• MCL Act 162 of 1982 — Michigan Nonprofit Corporation Act
• MCL 559.208 — Assessment lien; priority; foreclosure
• MCL 565.104 — Marketable Record Title Act; exceptions