Michigan · Do-it-yourself · $29
Appeal your Michigan property taxes yourself.
Everything you need to appeal your Michigan assessment yourself: why the March Board of Review is mandatory and skipping it kills your whole year, which of your two values an appeal can actually move, and a ready-to-edit petition.
Straight talk: we don’t have per-home comparable-sales data for Michigan — Michigan parcel records are held by roughly 1,500 individual city and township assessors rather than in one statewide roll, and most do not publish the building detail needed to size-adjust a comparable set. So this is a guide and templates, not a comp report, and you pull your own comps— the kit shows you exactly how. That’s the honest reason it’s $29 instead of the $49 done-for-you kit we sell in states we cover.
The Michigan DIY Appeal Kit
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How a Michigan appeal works
The short version, free. The kit is the long version with the forms, the filing steps, and the letter.
- Your assessor mails a Notice of Assessment in late February showing your Assessed Value, State Equalized Value, and Taxable Value. It must go out at least 14 days before your local Board of Review meets.
- You protest to your LOCAL MARCH BOARD OF REVIEW using Form 618 (L-4035). For residential property this step is mandatory, and skipping it permanently blocks the state appeal for that year.
- The Board mails its written decision by the first Monday in June, along with your Tax Tribunal appeal rights.
- If still over-assessed, file a Small Claims petition with the Michigan Tax Tribunal by July 31, free if you have a Principal Residence Exemption of 50% or more. And under MCL 211.30c, any reduction you win becomes the basis for next year's assessment too.
What to check on your assessment notice
- The Board of Review date, time, and location, and whether letter protests are allowed. This varies by city and township and the notice is the only reliable source.
- Is your Assessed Value more than 50% of what your home would actually sell for as of December 31 of the prior year? Double the Assessed Value. If that number is higher than market, you have a case.
- Is your SEV above your Taxable Value, and by how much? If the gap is large, a valuation win may not reduce this year's bill at all. Check this before you spend a day on evidence.
- Is your Principal Residence Exemption percentage right (it should be 100% for an owner-occupied home), and is the classification "residential"? A 0% PRE means you are paying roughly 18 extra school operating mills.
Official lookup: Michigan Tax Tribunal: Small Claims filing, forms, and fees→
What’s inside
✓Why the March Board of Review is mandatory for residential property, and exactly what skipping it costs you.
✓The SEV versus Taxable Value test that tells you whether an appeal will move your bill at all, before you spend time on it.
✓How to find YOUR local Board of Review dates, and why the statutory second Monday in March is wrong in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, and Sterling Heights.
✓The assessor's own two-year sales study window, so your comps come from the period they are actually using.
✓MCL 211.30c: how a reduction you win becomes the basis for next year's assessment.
✓The Principal Residence Exemption trap: why a PRE denial goes straight to the Tribunal in 35 days and never to the Board of Review.
✓The full Tribunal fee schedule, including why it is $0 for most owner-occupied homes.
✓A ready-to-edit Board of Review petition and a Tribunal-ready summary citing the right MCL sections.
How it works
- Buy the kit — the PDF lands in your inbox instantly.
- Read your Notice of Assessment for YOUR local Board of Review dates and whether letter protests are allowed. The statutory default is the second Monday in March, but townships may shift it and home-rule cities set their own by charter. The notice is the only reliable source.
- Gather the evidence on the checklist and edit the appeal-letter template.
- File Form 618 (L-4035) with your local city or township Board of Review (not the state) before your deadline.
Different process where you live?
Michigan is not one system. These jurisdictions use a different agency, a different form, and an earlier deadline than the rest of the state. The kit covers each one in its own section.
Detroit (Wayne County)
All real property in the City of Detroit. Detroit's filing deadline falls well before the Board's adjournment date, so do not assume you can walk in late.
- Deadline
- In 2026 the Assessor Review ran February 1 to February 22 by 4:30 p.m., with mailed appeals postmarked by February 22; the March Board convened March 3 with APPEALS DUE by 4:30 p.m. on March 9, sitting as needed through no later than April 6. Re-confirm the current year's dates on the city's assessor page before relying on them.
- Filed with
- The February Assessor Review (Office of the Assessor), then the Detroit Property Assessment Board of Review, then the Michigan Tax Tribunal.
- Form
- Detroit's own appeal form, filed online, in person at the Detroit Tax Service Center, or by letter to the Office of the Assessor.
Grand Rapids (Kent County)
All property in the City of Grand Rapids. This is the most dangerous calendar in the state: missing February kills the March appeal, which in turn kills the Tribunal.
- Deadline
- The Assessor's Review runs the first two full weeks of February: in 2026, February 2 to 13, with letter appeals postmarked by February 13 and forms received by 5:00 p.m. that day. The Board of Review then sat March 3 to 20 by appointment only, with appointments scheduled no later than March 16. The February window shifts each year, so confirm it.
- Filed with
- The Assessor's Review (a mandatory first step under the City Charter), then the City Board of Review, then the Michigan Tax Tribunal.
- Form
- The city's Assessor's Review form, then a Board of Review appeal by letter or appointment.
Ann Arbor (Washtenaw County)
All property in the City of Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor sits LATER than the statutory second Monday.
- Deadline
- The Board meets starting the Monday of the THIRD week of March, for four days. Notices of Assessment mail around the first week of March, and appearances are by appointment. The city posts a Board of Review Public Notice with the year's exact dates.
- Filed with
- The Ann Arbor City Board of Review, members appointed by the Mayor with Council approval, then the Michigan Tax Tribunal.
- Form
- Appeal forms are provided by the Assessor's Office on request; Form 618 (L-4035) is the STC-prescribed alternative.
Sterling Heights (Macomb County)
All property in the City of Sterling Heights.
- Deadline
- Four sessions a year: an early-March organizational session that receives the certified roll and hears NO appeals; a mid-to-late March session for valuation, classification, and hardship appeals, typically beginning the third Monday in March; then mid-July and mid-December for qualified errors and hardship exemptions. The city publishes exact dates annually. The published date controls, not "third Monday."
- Filed with
- A six-member Board of Review appointed by City Council, sitting as two three-member committees, then the Michigan Tax Tribunal.
- Form
- Form 618 (L-4035) or the city's equivalent petition, by appointment.
Deadline: The March Board of Review shall meet on the second Monday in March (MCL 211.30(1)), but the city or township governing body may by ordinance or resolution move the start to the Tuesday or Wednesday following (MCL 211.30(2)), and home-rule cities frequently differ under their charters, which the State Tax Commission's own calendar acknowledges. In 2026 the statutory date is March 9, yet Detroit convened March 3 with appeals due March 9, Grand Rapids ran March 3 to 20, Ann Arbor sat the third week, and Sterling Heights ran mid-to-late March. The date on YOUR Notice of Assessment is the only reliable source. The board must meet at least 12 hours that week including at least 3 hours after 6 p.m., must complete its review on or before the first Monday in April (MCL 211.30a), and must notify you in writing of its action no later than the first Monday in June. For the Michigan Tax Tribunal, residential real property invokes jurisdiction by filing a written petition on or before JULY 31 of the tax year (MCL 205.735a(6)). Commercial and industrial run May 31. A petition is timely if postmarked, hand-delivered, or given to a Tribunal-designated delivery service by that date, and rolls to the next business day if Tribunal offices are closed. The July Board (the Tuesday after the third Monday in July) and December Board (the Tuesday after the second Monday in December) handle qualified errors, poverty exemptions, disabled veterans exemptions, and granting an omitted Principal Residence Exemption, never ordinary valuation disputes.
What Michigan charges to file
These are your county or state’s fees, not ours. Listed so there are no surprises.
- Board of Review: FREE. No filing fee is prescribed or charged for Form 618 (L-4035), anywhere in Michigan.
- Michigan Tax Tribunal, Small Claims: NO FEE for a petition disputing State Equalized Value, Taxable Value, or an ad valorem exemption if the property has a Principal Residence Exemption of at least 50% for all tax years at issue at the time of filing. For the typical owner-occupied Michigan home, the Tribunal appeal costs nothing.
- No fee either for petitions disputing denial of a poverty exemption or a disabled veterans exemption.
- $25 to contest denial of a Principal Residence or Qualified Agricultural exemption; $75 to contest classification; $100 for a special assessment or non-property tax appeal.
- Residential WITHOUT a qualifying PRE pays half the Entire Tribunal schedule, tiered by the amount in dispute: $125 where the amount in dispute is $100,000 or less, $200 from $100,000 to $500,000, and $300 above $500,000.
- Add $25 for each additional contiguous parcel owned by the same person in one assessing unit, capped at $1,000 total in Small Claims. (The $2,000 cap that circulates online is the Entire Tribunal cap, not Small Claims.)
- Motions: $50 for immediate consideration or summary disposition, $25 for other motions, and nothing to withdraw a petition or to request a telephonic, video, or in-person hearing. A fee waiver request form exists.
- Fees change by rule amendment. Confirm current amounts at michigan.gov/taxtrib/fees before filing, and note the Tribunal states that where its fee calculator and the Rules disagree, the Rules control.
Questions
Why is this $29 and not $49?
The $49 kit includes a comparable-sales analysis pulled from county records. We don't have that data for Michigan yet, so this kit is the guide, the deadline rules, the exact form, an evidence checklist, and an appeal-letter template — you gather the comps yourself, and we show you how. Honest work, honest price.
When is the Michigan property tax appeal deadline?
The March Board of Review shall meet on the second Monday in March (MCL 211.30(1)), but the city or township governing body may by ordinance or resolution move the start to the Tuesday or Wednesday following (MCL 211.30(2)), and home-rule cities frequently differ under their charters, which the State Tax Commission's own calendar acknowledges. In 2026 the statutory date is March 9, yet Detroit convened March 3 with appeals due March 9, Grand Rapids ran March 3 to 20, Ann Arbor sat the third week, and Sterling Heights ran mid-to-late March. The date on YOUR Notice of Assessment is the only reliable source. The board must meet at least 12 hours that week including at least 3 hours after 6 p.m., must complete its review on or before the first Monday in April (MCL 211.30a), and must notify you in writing of its action no later than the first Monday in June. For the Michigan Tax Tribunal, residential real property invokes jurisdiction by filing a written petition on or before JULY 31 of the tax year (MCL 205.735a(6)). Commercial and industrial run May 31. A petition is timely if postmarked, hand-delivered, or given to a Tribunal-designated delivery service by that date, and rolls to the next business day if Tribunal offices are closed. The July Board (the Tuesday after the third Monday in July) and December Board (the Tuesday after the second Monday in December) handle qualified errors, poverty exemptions, disabled veterans exemptions, and granting an omitted Principal Residence Exemption, never ordinary valuation disputes.
What form do I file to appeal my Michigan property assessment?
Form 618 (L-4035) (Petition to Board of Review), filed with your local city or township Board of Review (not the state). The kit walks you through completing it line by line and includes a ready-to-edit appeal letter to attach.
Do you file the appeal for me?
No — this is a do-it-yourself kit. You file Form 618 (L-4035) yourself with your local city or township Board of Review (not the state). The kit makes that straightforward with step-by-step instructions and a ready-to-edit letter.
What if it doesn't help?
30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. If the kit isn't useful, reply to your delivery email and we'll refund you.
Is this legal or tax advice?
No. It's general information to help you file your own appeal. Always rely on the date and instructions printed on your own assessment notice and confirm current requirements with your county.