The Principal Residence Exemption in Leelanau Township

Buying in Leelanau Township, and will this be your main home? Add the Principal Residence Exemption — the PRE — to your closing checklist. It’s a tax exemption for full-time residents. Vacation buyers and landlords don’t qualify. After closing, you file a short affidavit with your township assessor. That gets you on record as a primary resident. Your situation might change. Maybe you start renting it out, sell, or move away. If so, there’s a rescission form to file with the assessor too.

Any property sale in Leelanau Township also requires a Property Transfer Affidavit. You file it with the township assessor. That one applies to all buyers, not just primary residents.

One more thing worth knowing. Questions can come up about your “taxable value” — including something called an “uncapping issue.” The township’s Board of Review is the right place to bring them. In Leelanau Township, the Board of Review meets in July and December to hear appeals like these. That includes PRE disputes.