Michigan · Construction-defect rights
Here is what you have, and here is how to keep it.
Michigan gives you six years from when the home was occupied, used or accepted. If the defect resulted from gross negligence, you may sue within one year after discovering it (or when you should have), but never more than ten years after occupancy, use or acceptance (MCL § 600.5839).
What you have
You have six years from occupancy, use or acceptance of the home (MCL s.600.5839). If the defect resulted from GROSS NEGLIGENCE, you also get one year from discovering it, up to a ten-year outer limit - the route that reaches past six years in Michigan.
The deadline
6 years to bring a construction-defect claim
MCL § 600.5839(1)
6 years from the time of OCCUPANCY of the completed improvement, USE, or ACCEPTANCE of the improvement (MCL § 600.5839(1)) — whichever of those events applies, not substantial completion in the abstract. One extension: where the defect proximately caused the injury AND resulted from GROSS NEGLIGENCE by the contractor/architect/engineer, suit may be brought within 1 year after the defect is discovered or should have been discovered — but such an action can NEVER be maintained more than 10 years after occupancy/use/acceptance. So the practical outer wall is 6 years ordinarily, 10 years absolute even for gross negligence. NOTE ON FRAUD: Michigan's statutory escape hatch is gross negligence, not fraud, and even that is hard-capped at 10 years — the repose is not wholly defeated by wrongdoing here, unlike the fraud carve-out states. Treated as fraud_exempts_repose = false on that basis.
“Six years after the time of occupancy of the completed improvement, use, or acceptance of the improvement.”
Before you sue: We have not yet confirmed whether Michigan requires written notice to the builder before a lawsuit. Some states do, and skipping it can get a case stayed or dismissed. Ask a Michigan attorney before filing.
What to do now
Write it down the day you notice it. Photograph it with something for scale. Note the date, the room, and what you saw. If it gets worse, photograph it again - a sequence is far stronger than one picture. Keep every message with the builder. You are not starting a fight; you are keeping the option open. Some states require written notice to the builder before you can sue. We have not confirmed whether Michigan does, so check with a licensed attorney before filing. A record made at the time is what most people are missing later.
The same defect, a different answer next door
The construction-defect deadline is a state-by-state accident of geography. The identical crack in the identical house can be dead in one state and live in another.