The Michigan records that decide what a home really costs and what the seller has to tell you: disclosure law, property-tax reset, the official registry, and the FEMA flood map — sourced, with the county offices that hold the files.
Check the records behind the address before you offer.
Check any address — free previewThe legal standard: Under the Seller Disclosure Act, Act 92 of 1993, a seller of 1-4 residential units must deliver the statutory Seller's Disclosure Statement disclosing known conditions affecting the property.
Ask for the signed Seller's Disclosure Statement early — failure to provide it can give a purchaser a right to terminate a binding purchase agreement. Read it as the seller's knowledge only, not a warranty, and still inspect. Check the form's tax warning: it expressly says not to assume your future taxes will be the same as the seller's.
Our research did not confirm whether Michigan law specifically requires flood-risk disclosure. Ask the seller directly, in writing, whether the home has ever flooded — and check the official flood map yourself (next section).
Sources: clearstreamtitle.com · michigan.gov · michigan.gov · mspsor.com
This is the classic Michigan trap: while the seller owned the home, Proposal A capped taxable value growth to the lesser of 5% or inflation. In the year after a transfer, taxable value uncaps to state equalized value (50% of true cash value), so your bill can jump sharply above the seller's even if the sale price and millage did not change.
Homestead: Principal residence (homestead) property is exempt from the 18-mill local school operating tax; nonhomestead property is not.
Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry (PSOR) is run by Michigan State Police. Search it by the home's address before you offer — and search again before closing, because registry data changes as people move.
Open the official Michigan registry
You can also search every state at once through the federal National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW). A CurbFacts report shows the registry count for the home's ZIP — the same public data, organized for the decision.
The only flood map that decides a lender's insurance requirement is FEMA's — the National Flood Hazard Layer behind the official FEMA flood map viewer. Listing sites license private models that can and do disagree with it; when they conflict, the FEMA map is the one your lender and insurer use.
Check the exact parcel, not the ZIP code: flood-zone boundaries cut through streets, and two houses side by side can sit in different zones.
Taxable value is capped at the lesser of 5% or inflation until ownership transfers; in the year a property is transferred the taxable value is set to state equalized value, so a long-held home can see a large tax increase for the buyer.
The statutory Seller's Disclosure Statement itself warns: 'BUYER SHOULD NOT ASSUME THAT BUYER'S FUTURE TAX BILLS ON THE PROPERTY WILL BE THE SAME AS THE SELLER'S PRESENT TAX BILLS. UNDER MICHIGAN LAW, REAL PROPERTY TAX OBLIGATIONS CAN CHANGE SIGNIFICANTLY WHEN PROPERTY IS TRANSFERRED.'
What the Michigan disclosure does and does not cover, section by section, and the questions it never answers.
Read the guideHow to run an address through the official Michigan registry, and how to read what comes back.
Read the guideRecords live at the county level — assessor, recorder, permits. Pick the county for its records checklist.
Every CurbFacts report pulls the public records behind an address — flood determination, registry, tax reset, price history, permits, and what's planned nearby — and shows its sources.
Check any address — free preview