Bill Text: MI HB5755 | 2023-2024 | 102nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Civil procedure: other; sealing court records of evictions; provide for. Amends 1961 PA 236 (MCL 600.101 - 600.9947) by adding sec. 1429.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-06-04 - Bill Electronically Reproduced 06/04/2024 [HB5755 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2023-HB5755-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL NO. 5755
A bill to amend 1961 PA 236, entitled
"Revised judicature act of 1961,"
(MCL 600.101 to 600.9947) by adding section 1429.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 1429. (1) The court, on its own motion or on a motion filed by the defendant, may order the records in summary proceedings to be sealed for any of the following reasons:
(a) The court finds that the plaintiff's case was sufficiently without basis in law or fact or the plaintiff filed the summary proceedings in the wrong jurisdiction.
(b) The defendant won or settled the action or paid any outstanding rent balance due before the summary proceedings were filed.
(c) Sealing the records is clearly in the interests of justice and those interests are not outweighed by the public's interest in knowing about the records. Circumstances that may justify sealing records under this subdivision include, but are not limited to, the following:
(i) The defendant was facing financial hardship because of the loss of a job or medical problems. There is a rebuttable presumption that the defendant was facing financial hardship if the defendant proves that he or she lost a job during a declared state of disaster or state of emergency.
(ii) The defendant still lived on the property and was paying rent.
(iii) The summary proceedings are the only summary proceedings that have been brought against the defendant.
(iv) Having the records of the summary proceedings public will make it hard for the defendant and the defendant's family to find safe, stable, and affordable housing in the future.
(d) The judgment was entered in the summary proceedings 5 years or more before the motion to seal the records.
(2) For summary proceedings under section 5714(1)(g) as to a mortgage or under section 5726, the court shall order the records in the summary proceedings to be sealed if the court finds that either of the following applies:
(a) For summary proceedings under section 5714(1)(g), the time for redemption or, for summary proceedings under section 5726, the time specified in section 5728 had passed and the defendant had vacated the property before commencement of the summary proceedings.
(b) The defendant was a tenant during the redemption period or time to pay or cure, as applicable, and did not receive proper notice to vacate on a date before commencement of the summary proceedings.
(3) As used in this section:
(a) "Records" means documents and records of any nature that are filed with or maintained by the court clerk in connection with the summary proceedings.
(b) "Sealed" means made nonpublic and confidential, designated accordingly, and maintained to allow only authorized access.
(c) "Summary proceedings" means that term as defined in section 5701, brought against an individual for termination of tenancy or as described in subsection (2).
