Renting out a home? Your city may make you register it and pass an inspection

Thinking about renting out a house, or buying a place to use as a rental? Here’s a rule that catches a lot of new landlords. In many Michigan cities, you can’t legally rent a home until you register it with the city and it passes a safety inspection. Michigan law lets cities require a “Certificate of Compliance” before anyone moves in, and a lot of them do. But the rules vary widely from one community to the next. Some require it and some don’t. In Detroit, for example, landlords must register every rental and pass an inspection before renting. The certificate is good for about three years. Over in Grand Rapids, you register yearly and pass an inspection. Its certificates run two, four, or six years, depending on the property. Other cities have their own versions. Many smaller towns and townships don’t require any of this at all. The fees, the inspection checklist, and how often you renew all depend on where the property is. Detroit’s certificate runs about three years. Grand Rapids wants a fresh registration every year. A small township next door may ask for nothing at all. The same rental can be a paperwork project in one city and a non-event a few miles away.