## Facts

- Louis Deroshia operated the “Horse and Buggy Drive-In” restaurant on Mackinac Island on property leased from Union Terminal Piers.
- The parties executed a ten-year lease in 1968; in 1978 Deroshia exercised an option renewing for five years, ending June 10, 1983.
- The parties discussed another renewal in 1982 but reached no agreement; on March 11, 1983 the landlord notified Deroshia the lease would not be renewed.
- Deroshia remained in possession after June 10, 1983, asserting the landlord had not properly terminated the tenancy and that he was entitled to one year’s notice.
- On June 16, 1983, while the business was closed, the landlord entered and replaced the locks to retake the premises without court process.
- Deroshia sued under Michigan’s antilockout statute (MCL 600.2918) seeking damages for unlawful interference with possession.
- After Deroshia presented his proofs, the trial court dismissed, reasoning the lease had expired, Deroshia lacked lawful possession, and the statute did not eliminate common-law self-help against holdover tenants.

## Issues

1. Whether MCL 600.2918 generally prohibits a landlord from using self-help (changing locks) to dispossess a holdover tenant who has not abandoned or surrendered the premises.
2. Whether a tenant “wrongfully in possession” may recover statutory damages for a lockout accomplished without judicial process.

## Decision

- The Michigan Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal and remanded for a determination of damages.
- The court held that self-help is generally unavailable to dispossess a tenant who remains in possession and has not abandoned or voluntarily surrendered the premises, even if the tenant is wrongfully in possession.
- The landlord was required to use judicial eviction procedures; changing the locks constituted unlawful interference with possession under the statute.

## Legal Principles

- Michigan’s antilockout statute (MCL 600.2918) broadly protects possessory interests and generally displaces common-law landlord self-help eviction remedies.
- A landlord’s asserted superior right to possession does not permit unilateral repossession without legal proceedings when a tenant remains in occupancy.
- The statute’s remedial purpose includes preventing breaches of the peace and avoiding private “adjudication” of possessory rights.
- Damages may include actual damages for unlawful interference; enhanced (treble) damages depend on the nature and forcefulness of the interference.

## Conclusion

The court ruled that Michigan law generally bars landlord lockouts as a means of removing a non-surrendering holdover tenant and requires judicial process; because the landlord changed the locks without court action, the tenant could pursue statutory damages on remand.


Deroshia v. Union Terminal Piers, 151 Mich. App. 715, 391 N.W.2d 458 (Mich. Ct. App. 1986)