If a Michigan business charges you more than it should, the Michigan overcharge law gives you two overlapping remedies. For a register that rings up more than the shelf price, the Shopping Reform and Modernization Act (the “Scanner Law”) lets you collect the price difference plus a bonus of up to $5, usually within two business days. For a price that is “grossly in excess” of what similar goods or services sell for, the Michigan Consumer Protection Act (MCPA) lets you file a complaint with the Attorney General or sue on your own for actual damages or $250, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees.
Scanner Overcharges: The Fastest Remedy
The overcharge most Michigan shoppers actually run into is the register that rings up $4.99 for an item marked $3.99. The Scanner Law is built for exactly that situation, and the payout is more generous than most people know.
Notify the store within 30 days of the transaction, in person or in writing. The store then has two business days to pay you the price difference plus a bonus equal to 10 times that difference, with a $1 floor and a $5 ceiling.1Michigan Department of Attorney General. Michigans Scanner Law – The Shopping Reform and Modernization Act2Michigan Legislature. Shopping Reform and Modernization Act – Act 15 of 2011 If you bought two or more identical items at the wrong price in a single transaction, you still get the full price difference refunded on all of them, but the bonus applies to just one item.
If the store doesn’t pay within two business days, you can sue for actual damages or $250 (whichever is greater) for each day a violation is found, plus up to $300 in attorney fees.2Michigan Legislature. Shopping Reform and Modernization Act – Act 15 of 2011 Most retailers train their customer service staff on the law and will pay without a fight.
Not everything is covered. Items sold by weight or volume without packaging, food from vending machines, prepared food for immediate consumption, live plants and animals, motor vehicles and their parts, unpackaged food, and individual cigarette packs are among the excluded categories.
The “Grossly in Excess” Standard
For larger overcharges, Section 3(1)(z) of the Consumer Protection Act bars businesses from charging a price “grossly in excess of the price at which similar property or services are sold.”3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 445.903 – Unfair, Unconscionable, or Deceptive Methods, Acts, or Practices The comparison point is the actual price at which similar goods sell, not an abstract “fair value.” A store charging $15 for a gallon of milk when nearby competitors charge $5 is the kind of gap the statute targets.
There is no fixed percentage. Enforcement turns on context: how the price compares to prevailing market rates, whether supply conditions justify the difference, whether the business has a pattern of similar pricing, and whether the pricing was deliberate. A company that intentionally exploits a temporary shortage faces a harder road than one caught in a genuine supply disruption.
What You Can Recover in a Private Lawsuit
You don’t need to wait for the state to act. The Consumer Protection Act gives you the right to sue directly. A successful plaintiff recovers actual damages or $250, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney fees.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 445.911 – Action by Person for Declaratory Judgment, Injunction, or Actual Damages The $250 floor matters, because it makes small overcharges worth pursuing even when the actual loss is a few dollars.
When an overcharge practice hits many consumers, the Act authorizes class action lawsuits, and class members can recover actual damages under the statute.5Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 445.911 – Michigan Consumer Protection Act There is no statutory cap on total class recovery.
How Long You Have to File
The deadline is six years from the date of the violation, or one year after the last payment in the transaction, whichever is later.6Michigan Legislature. Michigan Consumer Protection Act – Act 331 of 1976 The last-payment rule matters for installment purchases and subscriptions, where an overcharge may not surface until well into the payment schedule.
Small Claims Court
For smaller disputes, Michigan’s small claims court keeps costs down. Filing fees are $25 for claims up to $600, $45 for claims between $600 and $1,750, and $65 for claims above $1,750, plus a $5 electronic filing fee.7Michigan Courts. District Court Fee and Assessments Table The Attorney General’s office lists small claims court as an option when informal mediation doesn’t resolve the problem.8State of Michigan: Attorney General. File a Complaint
Filing a Complaint With the Attorney General
The Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s office handles consumer overcharge complaints. You can submit one online through the AG’s complaint form, and the office will send a letter to the business asking for a response.8State of Michigan: Attorney General. File a Complaint The office mediates informally, and in many cases mediation alone resolves the issue. Complaints and supporting materials become public records once submitted, and the office processes thousands of them, so expect a wait of several weeks.
When the Attorney General takes formal action, the penalties on the business go well beyond the individual overcharge. For a “persistent and knowing” violation of the MCPA, a court can impose a civil fine of up to $25,000 per violation.9Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 445.905 – Action to Restrain Defendant by Temporary or Permanent Injunction Both words matter: the conduct has to be repeated and intentional. The AG can also seek an injunction ordering the business to stop the practice; violating the injunction carries an additional fine of up to $5,000 for each violation.10Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 445.905 – Michigan Consumer Protection Act
Price Gouging During Emergencies
Michigan does not have a standalone price-gouging statute with a fixed percentage trigger. The “grossly in excess” standard applies in all market conditions, including emergencies; what changes is the enforcement intensity.
When the Governor declares a state of emergency, executive orders can impose enhanced restrictions on price gouging. Michigan used this mechanism during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Executive Order 2020-8 explicitly targeted price increases on essential goods.11GovDelivery. Executive Order No 2020-8 Enhanced Restrictions on Price Gouging Complaints on food, medical supplies, and fuel get heightened scrutiny during those periods. Without a bright-line percentage, no violation is automatic, and no business gets a safe harbor from staying under some fixed threshold.
The Regulated-Industry Exemption
This is the catch that trips up the most consumers, and it can defeat an MCPA claim before the pricing question is ever reached.
In Liss v. Lewiston-Richards, Inc. (2007), the Michigan Supreme Court held that residential home builders are exempt from the MCPA because their general business is “specifically authorized” by Michigan’s Occupational Code.12Michigan Courts. Liss v Lewiston-Richards Inc – Michigan Supreme Court Opinion Building on Smith v. Globe Life Ins. Co. (1999), the Court applied a broad test: if the general transaction is authorized by any state or federal regulatory scheme, the MCPA doesn’t apply to that business, even when the specific conduct at issue is deceptive or abusive.13Justia Law. Smith v Globe Life Ins Co – 1999 – Michigan Supreme Court
The Attorney General’s office has argued that these rulings effectively shield car dealerships, telecommunications providers, pharmaceutical companies, and prescription drug sellers, among others.14Michigan Department of Attorney General. Attorney General Team Argues for Reversal of Controversial 1999 and 2007 Consumer Protection Decisions Before Michigan Supreme Court If your overcharge involves a regulated industry, an MCPA claim may fail on this ground regardless of how excessive the price was.
The exemption may not last. In April 2025, the Michigan Supreme Court granted leave to reconsider Smith and Liss. Oral arguments took place in November 2025, and a decision is pending.15Michigan Courts. 165961 Attorney General v Eli Lilly and Co Senate Bill 134 would separately narrow the exemption so it applies only to conduct “expressly authorized” by law, rather than any transaction in a regulated industry.16Michigan Legislature. Consumer Protection Fund SB 134 – Senate Fiscal Agency Bill Analysis
Defenses That Can Cut Your Recovery
Two defenses shape what you can actually collect.
The first is bona fide error. If a business proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the overcharge was a genuine mistake and that it had procedures designed to prevent such errors, recovery is limited to actual damages only.5Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 445.911 – Michigan Consumer Protection Act The $250 statutory minimum and attorney fees drop out. The business has to show it maintained reasonable procedures, not just that the error was unintentional; a store with no price-auditing system won’t qualify.
The second is cost justification. Because the statute measures overcharging against the price of “similar property or services,” a business can defend by showing its costs justify the higher price. Supplier invoices, transportation costs, labor costs, and raw material records are the kind of documentation lawmakers have signaled they expect.17Michigan Legislature. Bill Analysis for HLA-4755 For you as the consumer, that means a lawful cost basis behind an unusually high price can defeat an overcharge claim even when the price looks extreme on its face.