If you are suffering through issues with a tenant as a landlord, or have engaged a company to perform repairs on your house and failed to have the work completed in a satisfactory manner, help could now be literally at your finger tips thanks to the Michigan Supreme Court.
Those are just two of many examples of issues that could be resolved through the Office of Dispute Resolution at the Michigan Supreme Court as they debut a new online dispute resolution tool going live across Michigan’s Great Southwest.
MI-Resolve is an innovation that offers convenience and safety while addressing the justice gap in the region.
The Michigan Supreme Court Office of Dispute Resolution has announced the availability of its MI-Resolve online dispute resolution tool in the Counties of Berrien, Branch, Cass, St. Joseph, Van Buren and Kalamazoo. MI-Resolve provides an efficient and accessible way of resolving disputes that are typically filed as small claims, general civil, or landlord-tenant cases in the district court. Now available in 44 counties, the online service is one of the first of its kind in the nation.
Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget McCormack says, “Keeping the virtual doors of justice open to everyone in Michigan has never been more important. Confronting the COVID-19 crisis makes closing the justice gap all the more urgent,” and adds, “Opening up online dispute resolution to Southwest Michigan residents represents a huge step toward achieving that goal.”
Through MI-Resolve, parties can go online to negotiate directly with the other party, or have a Community Dispute Resolution Center (in this case, Citizens Mediation Service, Inc.) mediator help them resolve their dispute. If the dispute is resolved, the system produces the necessary court forms for filing in the individual courts. Also, the service is free, involving no cost to the parties or the court.
The service is a game-changer for people who are busy with work or children and can benefit from mediation without leaving home, particularly as the state continues to operate under a shelter-in-place order.
Types of cases that have been managed through MI-Resolve, to date:
- Repayment of vehicle and personal loans…
- Non-delivery or quality of goods and services…
- Car accident (attempts to collect the deductible)…
- Landlord/Tenant (return of security deposit and disputes over the amount of security deposit withheld, completion of repairs on rental homes)…
- Return of private property between parties ending a domestic relationship…
- Completion of repairs or home improvements (contractor/home repairs)…
- Neighbor use of property that doesn’t belong to them; building fence on neighbor lot…
You can learn more or engage by clicking the link below:
https://courts.michigan.gov/Administration/SCAO/OfficesPrograms/ODR/Documents/contact/index.html
Officials at the Supreme Court say that MI-Resolve will continue expanding statewide.
