{
  "attribution": "The Insurance Investigator's Playbook — theclaimsplaybook.net",
  "jurisdiction": "MI",
  "name": "Michigan",
  "question": "Does recording a conversation in Michigan require one party's consent or all parties' consent?",
  "rule": "mixed",
  "ruleLabel": "It depends",
  "commonlyClassifiedAs": "all-party (two-party) consent",
  "commonLabelIsMisleading": true,
  "summary": "Michigan does not resolve to a single rule — the answer depends on the medium or on who is recording. Read the nuance and the statute before acting.",
  "nuance": "Start with the text: § 750.539c reaches 'any person who is present or who is not present' who eavesdrops on a private conversation 'without the consent of all parties'. On its face that covers a participant. Michigan courts have read 'eavesdrop' to mean a third party overhearing, so a participant recording their own conversation has been held outside it — but that reading comes from Sullivan v. Gray, a 1982 intermediate appellate decision the Michigan Supreme Court has never affirmed. Treat participant recording here as unresolved and risky, not as settled one-party.",
  "nuanceIsEditorial": true,
  "nuanceVerified": false,
  "casesCited": [
    {
      "name": "Sullivan v. Gray",
      "verdict": "verified",
      "citation": "117 Mich. App. 476",
      "allCitations": [
        "324 N.W.2d 58",
        "117 Mich. App. 476"
      ],
      "court": "Michigan Court of Appeals",
      "year": 1982,
      "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1579962/sullivan-v-gray/",
      "holdingVerified": false
    }
  ],
  "caseLawVerified": true,
  "caseHoldingsVerified": false,
  "caseLawNote": "Each decision named in `nuance` was checked against a court record on CourtListener: it exists and carries the citation given. What the decision is said to HOLD is our reading and has not been verified.",
  "statute": "Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.539c",
  "federalFloor": {
    "statute": "18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d)",
    "rule": "one-party",
    "url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2511",
    "note": "Federal law permits recording with one party's consent unless the recording is made to commit a crime or tort. Federal law is the FLOOR; a state may and many do require more. Where an interstate call touches two states with different rules, the safe assumption is the stricter one."
  },
  "verification": {
    "status": "verified",
    "statusLabel": "Verified against the government source",
    "verifiedOn": "2026-09-21",
    "sourceUrl": "https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=MCL-750-539C",
    "sourcePublisher": "Michigan Legislature",
    "sourceTier": "government",
    "canDetectChange": true,
    "recheckCadence": "weekly",
    "consideredStaleAfter": "90 days",
    "methodUrl": "https://theclaimsplaybook.net/law/method"
  },
  "disclaimer": "Reference information, not legal advice. Statutes change and courts read them differently; confirm the current text with the linked primary source and counsel licensed in the jurisdiction before relying on it.",
  "citation": {
    "permalink": "https://theclaimsplaybook.net/law/recording-consent/MI",
    "title": "Michigan recording consent law",
    "publisher": "The Insurance Investigator's Playbook",
    "methodUrl": "https://theclaimsplaybook.net/law/method",
    "termsUrl": "https://theclaimsplaybook.net/law/terms",
    "attributionRequired": true,
    "aiTrainingPermitted": false,
    "aiSearchPermitted": true,
    "citationText": "\"Michigan recording consent law\", The Insurance Investigator's Playbook, https://theclaimsplaybook.net/law/recording-consent/MI",
    "citationMarkdown": "[Michigan recording consent law](https://theclaimsplaybook.net/law/recording-consent/MI) — The Insurance Investigator's Playbook"
  }
}