LPM 2026 Q2 Tenant Payment Performance
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The First Half of 2026 Is Behind Us—What Does Q2 Tell Us?
As we close out the first half of 2026, the second quarter gives us a pretty clear picture of how our tenants are performing via their payment behavior.
Income tax refund season is behind us and post-holiday payment plans have had time to work.
While overall performance remained strong throughout Q2, the graphs show a modest increase in short-term delinquencies compared with Q1. On a positive note, serious delinquency remained exceptionally limited, with very few accounts progressing beyond 60 days past due. Overall, tenants continue to demonstrate healthy rent payment trends as we head into the third quarter.
General Eviction Update
Metro Detroit eviction timelines remained relatively stable throughout Q2.
The BIG news is Detroit’s 36th District Court caving to liberal pressures and announcing they will no longer issue possessions for nonpayment judgment for landlords without Detroit’s required Certificate of Compliance (CofC). Instead, tenants will be allowed to escrow their rent with the court and if the landlord doesn’t procure the CofC within 90 days, the tenant’s rent in escrow will be released back to them. Then the cycle will start all over again.
Within days of the 36th District Court’s announcement, the City of Pontiac’s 50th District Court went even further than the 36th, announcing they will not allow a nonpayment eviction case to be started without a landlord having Pontiac’s required rental license.
In both jurisdictions, landlords can still evict for recovery of possession of their rentals, but that’s a 30-day process, instead of a 7-day, and a landlord is not granted a judgment for balance owed. A landlord can still pursue balance collection via Small Claims Court, which in Michigan is limited to $7,000.
We’re not really worried about these new court requirements as the properties for all our clients have already passed whatever inspection a city requires or it’s in the process of being obtained.
Rent Payment Trends: 30, 60, 90+ Days Behind
Payment performance remained strong during Q2, although the graphs show a slight shift from the exceptional results recorded during Q1. The percentage of tenants with no balance decreased modestly from approximately 95% to 92%, while the number of tenants falling into the 30–60 day category increased slightly.
Despite this movement, longer-term delinquency stayed exceptionally low, with both the 60–90 day and 90+ day categories holding at approximately 1% of tenants.
Overall, these results suggest that while more tenants required short-term payment flexibility during the quarter, very few accounts moved into serious delinquency. This continues to reflect proactive collection efforts and early intervention by the management team.
Macomb County Tenant Performance
Macomb County once again delivered the strongest rent collection results. Nearly every tenant either paid in full or quickly resolved minor payment issues.
Full-rent payments remained above 96%, while a few tenants required partial payment arrangements.
Just as important, there were again no tenants who paid zero rent during the quarter. Macomb continues to set the benchmark for consistency.
Oakland County Tenant Performance
Oakland County remained relatively stable throughout Q2. While the overwhelming majority of tenants continued paying rent in full, the graph shows a modest increase in structured payment arrangements compared with the previous quarter. It is also worth noting that there were no zero-payment accounts during the reporting period, showing that tenants experiencing financial challenges continued making progress toward meeting their rental obligations.
Serious delinquency issues remain concentrated in Pontiac. With tenants making progress through structured payment plans, while the remaining accounts continue through the appropriate collection process. These cases remain isolated and do not reflect the overall strength of the Oakland County performance.
Wayne County Tenant Performance
Wayne County continues to be the most management-intensive area for us. While payment performance softened modestly during Q2 compared with the exceptionally strong results achieved in Q1, nearly 90% of tenants still paid their rent in full.
A small increase in partial-payment arrangements reflects tenants working proactively with management rather than allowing balances to become seriously delinquent.
Given the complexity of Wayne County tenant profiles, serious delinquency remains limited to a small number of accounts concentrated in Detroit and Inkster. These accounts continue through the appropriate collection process and represent only a small portion of tenants.
What Should Property Owners Be Thinking About as We Head Into Q3?
As we move into the third quarter, owners should focus on the same fundamentals that contributed to the past strong performance throughout the first half of the year.
Rising household expenses, insurance costs, inflation, and utility increases will keep placing pressure on many tenants. Staying proactive with communication, maintaining property compliance, and addressing payment issues early will remain the keys to protecting rental income during the second half of 2026.
Final Thoughts
The graphs throughout this report tell a positive story. Although Q2 experienced a modest increase in short-term delinquencies compared with Q1, tenants continued to demonstrate strong overall payment performance. Most tenants remained current on their rent, serious delinquency stayed exceptionally low, and each county maintained stable collection trends. As we move into Q3, our focus remains unchanged: protecting our owners’ investments through proactive communication, early intervention, consistent collection practices, and strong tenant relationships before payment issues develop into larger financial challenges.