RoadKeeper

Road maintenance agreements in Michigan

In this state

Michigan hands private-road owners no statute to bind each other, so the recorded road maintenance agreement does the work: it names the split, binds the parcels, and gives a lender the answer it asks for at closing.

Shared-way statuteNo owner-meeting statute exists in Michigan; the owner-side instrument is the recorded road maintenance agreement
How owners are assessedWhatever split your recorded agreement names; no Michigan statute supplies a default split among private-road owners.
If someone won't payAn agreement recorded at the register of deeds binds the parcels it covers and successors per its terms; a signed share collects as a contract debt, and the township route stands in reserve (Act 139).
Where the text liveshttps://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-act-139-of-1972

Questions about Michigan agreements

Why does the agreement matter more here than in Maine?

Maine's owners can convene under a statute and out-vote a holdout; Michigan's cannot, so the agreement is the only owner-side instrument that binds anyone.

What should the agreement name?

The parcels bound, the split, how the number is set each year, who holds the fund, and what happens when a share goes unpaid.

Where is it recorded?

With the county register of deeds, against every parcel it covers, so a title search finds it and buyers take subject to it.

Does it bind a future buyer?

That is the point of recording: the obligation runs with the parcels the instrument covers, per its own terms.

How do we collect from a signer who stops paying?

As a contract debt, the way any written obligation collects; your agreement can also name interest and costs.

What about an owner who never signed anything?

No Michigan statute makes them pay your association directly. The honest options are getting them into the agreement or invoking the township route for the work itself.

Do lenders really ask for this?

A private-road closing commonly turns on whether a recorded maintenance obligation exists; the lender letter our product produces cites it.

Can the agreement adopt frontage splits?

Yes, or equal shares, or anything else the signers accept; unlike a township district, the agreement is not limited to two formulas.

Can we still use Act 139 with an agreement in place?

Yes. The district covers what the township votes to maintain; the agreement governs everything else the association does.

The RoadKeeper Team

Built by the people who make RoadKeeper. Last reviewed 2026-09-03.

This page is general information for road association volunteers, not legal advice. Laws change and every road's documents differ — for decisions about your association, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Reviewed against primary sources; see citations on each page.