--- name: mi-36th-district description: > This skill should be used when a Michigan civil case is in the 36th District Court in Detroit — the state's highest-volume district court and the primary consumer-debt and eviction forum. Triggers include "36th District Court", "Detroit district court", "Detroit eviction court", "Detroit small claims", "debt collection lawsuit Detroit", "landlord tenant 36th district", "sued in Detroit district court", "36th District Court summary proceedings", and "421 Madison Detroit court". Covers the district court's limited civil money jurisdiction, the landlord-tenant / summary-proceedings docket under MCL 600.5701 et seq. and MCR 4.201, small claims under MCR 4.301 et seq., general civil practice under the MCR 2.xxx rules as modified for district court, how cases are commenced and noticed, MiFILE/MiCOURT e-filing, and the high default-judgment volume in consumer-debt cases. Layer on top of `mi-statewide-format`. version: 0.1.0 --- # 36th District Court (Detroit) > **NOT LEGAL ADVICE.** Drafting and filing guidance only. District > court deadlines — especially in summary proceedings — are short and > unforgiving. Verify every date and every local-rule requirement > against the current Michigan Court Rules and the court's own > administrative orders before acting. Use this skill in addition to `mi-statewide-format` whenever a civil case is in the **36th District Court**, located at **421 Madison Street, Detroit, MI 48226**. It is the **largest district court in Michigan and one of the busiest courts in the United States** — and the **dominant consumer-debt and eviction forum** in the state: high volume, short summary-proceedings timelines, and a very large default-judgment docket. ## What kind of court this is Michigan **district courts** are limited-jurisdiction trial courts. General civil practice runs under the **MCR 2.xxx** rules as modified for district court, while three specialized civil tracks are governed by their own rules: - **General civil** — money claims up to the district-court civil jurisdiction cap. Above the cap, the matter belongs in Circuit Court (in Detroit, the Wayne County / Third Circuit — see `mi-wayne`). **Confirm the current cap in the corpus** before relying on it. - **Landlord-tenant / summary proceedings** — recovery of possession under **MCL 600.5701 et seq.** and **MCR 4.201** (see below). - **Small claims** — informal, no-lawyer, no-appeal track under **MCR 4.301 et seq.** and **MCL 600.8401 et seq.** (see below). ## Divisions The 36th District Court is organized into functional divisions: - **Civil Division** — general civil and landlord-tenant matters. - **Small Claims Division** — small-value disputes (in-person proceedings; confirm the current courtroom/calendar with the clerk). - **Traffic Division** and **Criminal Division** — out of scope for this civil-drafting skill. - **Collections / Enforcement** — post-judgment collection and garnishment processing. ## Commencing and noticing a case - A general civil action is commenced by filing a **complaint** with the clerk, who issues a **summons**; the plaintiff serves the summons and complaint under the MCR 2.105 service rules. Use `mi-statewide-format` for the caption, numbered paragraphs, the P-number signature block, and the proof of service. - A **summary proceeding** is commenced by a **complaint to recover possession** preceded by the statutorily required **demand / notice** (e.g., notice to quit / demand for possession) — see the landlord-tenant section below. - A **small-claims** matter is commenced on an **SCAO affidavit and claim** form, not a formal Rule 2.113 pleading. ## Landlord-tenant / summary proceedings — the eviction docket Summary proceedings to recover possession are the 36th District Court's highest-volume civil docket. Key mechanics: - **Governing law: MCL 600.5701 et seq.** (summary proceedings) and **MCR 4.201** (procedure). The matter is filed in the Civil Division. - **Pre-suit notice is a prerequisite.** The landlord must serve the correct **demand for possession / notice to quit** (the type and notice period depend on the ground — nonpayment, termination, health/safety, etc.) before filing the complaint. A notice defect is a common and dispositive defense. - **Compressed timeline.** Summary proceedings move on a **much shorter clock** than ordinary civil cases — short summons-return windows and prompt hearing dates. Treat every date as jurisdictional and verify it against MCR 4.201 and the court's scheduling practice. - **SCAO mandatory forms** govern the summons, complaint, and judgment in summary proceedings; use the current SCAO form set. For the substantive defense framework — habitability, retaliation, the Truth in Renting Act, security-deposit issues, notice defects, and any federal notice overlay where applicable — see `mi-landlord-tenant`. ## Small claims - **Governing law: MCR 4.301 et seq.** and **MCL 600.8401 et seq.** - **Informal, no-attorney, no-jury** track. Parties generally may not be represented by counsel, there is **no formal discovery**, and a small-claims **judgment is not appealable** (a party who wants the right to appeal or to be represented must instead remove the case to the general civil docket before trial — confirm the current removal mechanics). - **Monetary cap is statutory and periodically adjusted for inflation.** **Do not assume a fixed dollar figure — confirm the current small-claims cap in the corpus** (`mi-law-references`) before advising on forum choice. ## Consumer-debt and the default-judgment docket The 36th District Court processes an enormous volume of **consumer-debt collection** suits, and a large share resolve by **default judgment** when the defendant does not appear. That makes the consumer-protection posture important: - A defendant who is served must **respond by the deadline** to avoid a default; once a default judgment enters, relief runs through the post-judgment / set-aside rules (see `mi-post-judgment`). - Debt-buyer plaintiffs must be able to prove **standing / chain of title** and the **business-records foundation** (MRE 803(6) / 902(11)) for the account documents — frequently weak points in a high-volume docket. - Federal and Michigan collection-practice law (FDCPA, Regulation F, and the Michigan collection statutes) supply both defenses and affirmative claims. See `mi-consumer-debt` for the full debt-defense framework (FDCPA, Reg F, the Michigan consumer-protection and collection-agency regimes, statutes of limitation, and chain-of-title challenges) and `mi-first-30-days` for answering and avoiding default. ## E-filing (MiFILE / MiCOURT) Michigan's statewide electronic-filing system is **MiFILE** (the MiCOURT TrueFiling platform). The 36th District Court accepts electronic filing through the state system; certain post-judgment collection items (e.g., garnishments) route through dedicated electronic workflows. Confirm the current filing channel, document types, and any fee with the clerk and the court's website before filing — see `mi-file-packet` for packet assembly and preflight. ## Caption / court identifier For documents filed in this court, use the district-court identifier line in the caption: ``` STATE OF MICHIGAN IN THE 36TH DISTRICT COURT ``` Follow the caption fields, numbered-paragraph form, P-number signature block, and proof-of-service conventions in `mi-statewide-format`. Use the current **SCAO mandatory forms** for summary proceedings and small claims rather than free-form pleadings. ## Composition - For statewide format and the caption: `mi-statewide-format` - For consumer-debt defense: `mi-consumer-debt` - For eviction / summary-proceedings defense: `mi-landlord-tenant` - For answering and avoiding default in the first 30 days: `mi-first-30-days` - For default set-aside and post-judgment relief: `mi-post-judgment` - For deadline computation: `mi-deadlines` - For pro se conventions: `mi-pro-se` - For e-filing packet assembly: `mi-file-packet` - For other Michigan district courts: `mi-district-courts` - For the companion Wayne County Circuit Court (over-cap matters): `mi-wayne` ## References - `mi-law-references` — Michigan Court Rules (incl. MCR 2.xxx, MCR 4.201 summary proceedings, MCR 4.301 et seq. small claims), MCL 600.5701 et seq. (summary proceedings), MCL 600.8401 et seq. (small claims, including the current monetary cap), the MRE business-records / self-authentication rules, and the federal-debt-laws corpus