Sec. 5801. No person may bring or maintain any action for the recovery or possession of any lands or make any entry upon any lands unless, after the claim or right to make the entry first accrued to himself or to someone through whom he claims, he commences the action or makes the entry within the periods of time prescribed by this section. (1) When the defendant claims title to the land in question by or through some deed made upon the sale of the premises by an executor, administrator, guardian, or testamentary trustee; or by a sheriff or other proper ministerial officer under the order, judgment, process, or decree of a court or legal tribunal of competent jurisdiction within this state, or by a sheriff upon a mortgage foreclosure sale the period of limitation is 5 years. (2) When the defendant claims title under some deed made by an officer of this state or of the United States who is authorized to make deeds upon the sale of lands for taxes assessed and levied within this state the period of limitation is 10 years. (3) When the defendant claims title through a devise in any will, the period of limitation is 15 years after the probate of the will in this state. (4) In all other cases under this section, the period of limitation is 15 years.
Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.5801
Limitation on actions; time periods; defendant claiming title under deed, court-ordered sale, tax deed, or will; other cases
Applied in 78 court decisions — leading case Spiek v. Department of Transportation (1998)
Most recently applied in 327 Mich. App. 1 - Township of Fraser v. Harvey Haney (December 2018)
1961, Act 236, Eff
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Michigan Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Michigan statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.