Cannabis Real Estate Insights | October 2026

A monthly briefing for Michigan cannabis entrepreneurs, operators, and lenders.

Cannabis Industry Pulse

Michigan Cannabis Sales Pass $17 Billion

Combined adult-use and medical sales since legalization crossed $17.04 billion, with $259.1 million in August alone and adult-use flower averaging $60.33 an ounce. Strong volume with soft price is the mix that pushes operators toward consolidation, and consolidation is a real estate event.

Source: The Marijuana Herald, Sept. 15, 2026

CRA Fines a Processor $2 Million and Revokes Its Licenses

The Cannabis Regulatory Agency fined Michigan Investment 10 LLC $2 million and ordered the closure and revocation of its processor licenses effective September 24, after an administrative law judge's June findings on surveillance and rule violations. When a license goes away the building does not, and what happens to that real estate next is a title question first.

Source: Michigan CRA press release, Sept. 16, 2026

The Federal CLAIM Act Is Back in the House

The bipartisan CLAIM Act was reintroduced and would shield insurers, brokers and agents — title insurers included — from certain federal penalties for serving state-legal cannabis businesses. It is the federal fix that would take most of the remaining hesitation out of underwriting these files.

Source: U.S. Rep. Velázquez press release, Sept. 2026

Michigan Regulatory Watch
Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) updates affecting real estate.
September was an enforcement month. On the 25th the CRA released its August disciplinary action report alongside a new Denied Application and Non-Renewed License Report, covering actions against six licensees for METRC non-compliance, operational deficiencies and surveillance failures, plus two licenses that were simply not renewed — an adult-use retailer in Burton and a medical facility in Lapeer. Nine days earlier the agency announced a $2 million fine and revoked a processor's licenses. The real estate consequence is what to plan around: revocations and closures put purpose-built buildings back on the market on somebody else's timeline, and the seller is often a secured lender, a landlord or a receiver rather than the operator whose name is on the sign. What decides that deal is what is recorded against the parcel and who has authority to convey it.
Sources: CRA disciplinary and non-renewal reports, Sept. 25, 2026 · CRA $2M fine and license revocation, Sept. 16, 2026 · CRA disciplinary press releases

Cannabis Title Insight
Land Contracts and Seller Financing: Who Owns What, and What Shows Up on Schedule B
Banks still mostly will not lend on cannabis property, so sellers finance it, and in Michigan the usual tool is a land contract. The mechanics matter more than people assume. The seller — the vendor — keeps legal title. The buyer — the vendee — gets equitable title and possession and pays over time. That is a real ownership interest and it can be insured; a vendee's policy insures what the buyer actually has. But it is not a deed, and treating it like one is where trouble starts. Record the contract, or at least a memorandum of it: Michigan's land contract statute (MCL 565.351 et seq.) contemplates recording, and an unrecorded contract leaves the buyer's interest invisible on the record and exposed to the seller's later creditors. The alternative is a purchase-money mortgage — deed to the buyer at closing, seller takes back a recorded mortgage.
Whichever structure you use, the existing lien picture controls the outcome, so pull it before you sign. If the seller has a mortgage on the building, selling on land contract can trip a due-on-sale clause, and any existing mortgage, judgment lien or unpaid tax lien sits ahead of the buyer and lands on Schedule B where no lender wants to see it. Two more things worth writing on the wall. When the contract is paid off, the deed has to be delivered and recorded — a surprising number never are, and the gap surfaces years later during a refinance. And the license and the real estate are separate assets: the CRA process governs the license, and nothing in a land contract moves it.
Source: MCL 565.351, Michigan land contracts

From Dave's Desk
Two things crossed my desk recently that tell the same story. A partial turnkey cultivation facility on North Grand River in Lansing is still available and the listing leads with seller financing, and an off-market processing facility in Warren just traded.
Purpose-built cannabis buildings are moving, and a good share of them are moving on paper the seller is holding. That is why this month's insight is about land contracts. If you are about to sign one, on either side, call me first.
— Dave


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If you're acquiring, financing, or developing cannabis-zoned property in Michigan, we handle the title complexities that general agents won't touch. Reach out for a conversation about your next transaction.
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About Midwest Title and Dave Nykanen
Midwest Title's Commercial Division handles Michigan's most complex commercial closings — including cannabis-zoned acquisitions, license-tied property transfers, multi-parcel operator consolidations, and the underwriting and Schedule B issues that stop generalist title agents cold. Founded and led by Dave Nykanen, a licensed Michigan real estate attorney with three decades of experience in commercial real estate as both a practicing attorney and a title agent, the division brings the legal and underwriting depth that cannabis transactions demand.
Contact: commercial@mwtmi.com | Midwest Title | Commercial Division | Michigan-Licensed Title Insurance Agent
This newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.