A plain-English guide to the state’s lookup tool and the inspection reports behind it.
The short version: Search the home on the state’s licensing site, confirm the license is current, check the license type and capacity, then read every report in full. It takes about 20 minutes and it is free. Do it before you tour, and again before you sign.
Most families check reviews, photos and prices. Far fewer check the one thing the state makes public: whether the home is licensed, and what inspectors have written about it.
That is a missed opportunity. In Michigan, the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) keeps a public profile for each licensed home, with the license details and the reports. Anyone can look. You do not need an account, and you do not need the home’s permission.
This guide walks through the lookup step by step, explains what the profile shows, and helps you read the reports without getting lost in them.
Why Check a License Before You Tour?
A tour shows you the best version of a home. A licensing profile shows you what the state recorded. The two together tell you far more than either one alone.
It also settles a question that confuses a lot of families. In Michigan, “assisted living” is a common phrase, but it is not the license name. The state licenses homes for the aged and adult foster care homes, and some of them call themselves assisted living. The license a home holds affects its size, who can live there and which rules apply. We explain the difference in our guide to the home for the aged and adult foster care. Checking the license is how you find out which one you are actually looking at.
What You Need Before You Start
Have these ready. Any one of them is usually enough to find a home:
- The home’s full name, including any former name
- The street address and city
- The license number, if the home has given it to you
Ask the home for its license number early. A well-run home hands it over without hesitation. If a home is vague about it, note that and keep going.
How to Look Up a Michigan Home: Step by Step
The state runs one public search for both adult foster care homes and homes for the aged. Here is how to use it (LARA facility search).
- Open the search and enter the home’s name, address or license number. If the name returns nothing, try the street address. Homes sometimes operate under a name different from the one on the license.
- Open the facility profile. Check that the name, address and licensee match the home you are considering.
- Confirm the license status. Look at the license status and the effective and expiration dates. The license should be current.
- Check the license facility type and the capacity. This shows what kind of home it is and how many residents it is licensed for.
- Read the “Serves” and “Special Certification” fields. They show the population the home is licensed to serve.
- Open every report. Start with the newest, then go back to the oldest. We cover how to read them below.
A license is the starting line, not the finish line. It tells you a home is allowed to operate. The reports tell you how it has actually done.
What the License Profile Shows
Profiles are laid out the same way, so once you have seen one you can read them all. In the example profile we reviewed, you will find:
- License number and status: whether the license is currently in good standing.
- Effective and expiration dates: how long the current license runs. An expired date on a home that is still taking residents is worth a direct question.
- License facility type and capacity: the category of home and the number of residents it may serve.
- Serves: the groups the home is licensed to serve. This can list conditions or populations, such as Alzheimers.
- Special Certification: may be blank. A blank field is not automatically a problem, but if a home advertises a specialty program, ask about it.
- Licensee information: who holds the license.
- Reports: the inspection and investigation reports, with the date each was published.
Which License Does the Home Hold?
The license number itself carries a clue. Number prefixes we found on LARA profiles:
- AH: Home for the Aged.
- AS: labeled by LARA as an Adult Small Group Home, capacity 1 to 6.
- AF: labeled as an Adult Family Home, capacity 1 to 6.
- AM: labeled as an Adult Medium Group Home, capacity 7 to 12.
LARA’s labels and capacity ranges do not always match the category names in the statutes. By law, a home for the aged serves 21 or more residents age 55 and older, and adult foster care comes in four sizes, from family homes to congregate facilities of more than 20. If the profile and the home’s brochure do not seem to agree, ask the home to explain, and ask LARA if the answer is still unclear.
How to Read a LARA Inspection Report
This is where families get stuck. The reports can be long, technical and a little intimidating. Do not skim them.
A profile can list several kinds of reports:
- An original licensing study, done when the home first applied for a license.
- Renewal inspection reports.
- Special investigation reports, which look into a specific complaint or concern, and any addenda that follow.
Each is listed with a publication date. LARA’s own page advises reading any report in its entirety, and that is good advice. A single line pulled out of context can look worse, or better, than the full picture.
Report layouts vary, so treat the following as questions to ask yourself rather than a checklist.
Look at the pattern, not one finding
In many real cases, one older finding that was fixed tells you little. The same issue appearing report after report tells you a lot. Line the reports up by date and look for repeats.
Note what the finding was about
Some findings are paperwork. Others touch safety: medicines, falls, supervision, staffing or how residents are treated. You do not need to be an expert to tell the difference. Ask yourself whether the issue could have harmed a resident.
Check whether it was corrected
A finding followed by a documented fix is a better sign than a finding with no follow-up. Corrective action plans are not always in the profile. According to LARA’s page, you can request them through the Freedom of Information Act.
Read special investigations closely
These exist because someone raised a concern. They are not proof of a problem, since the outcome matters, but they deserve a careful read and a direct question to the home.
Do not read a short list as perfect
An empty or short report list does not prove a home is excellent. It may mean a home is new, or that little has been published. Use the reports as one input, not the whole verdict.
Mistakes Families Commonly Make
- Checking only the home’s website. A website is marketing. The profile is a public record.
- Assuming “assisted living” is a license type. Always ask which license the home holds.
- Reading the summary and skipping the full report.
- Looking once, then never again. Check again before you sign, and again if something changes.
- Treating one finding as a verdict, in either direction.
- Not asking the home about what they found. How a home responds says as much as the report.
Questions to Ask the Home About Its Reports
- What is your license type, number and licensed capacity?
- When was your last renewal inspection, and may I read it with you?
- Were there any findings, and what did you change as a result?
- Has there been a special investigation? What was the outcome?
- How do you handle a concern that a family raises with you directly?
- What would cause you to ask my parent to leave, and with how much notice?
Our 20 questions to ask on an assisted living tour covers staffing, medicines and daily life, and pairs well with this list.
If You See Something Concerning
A finding does not always mean a home is unsafe. But if something worries you, or if you are worried about a resident right now, here is where to turn:
- To file a licensing complaint, use the LARA complaint form or call 866-856-0126.
- To report abuse, neglect or exploitation of an adult, call 855-444-3911.
- For free, confidential help, call the Michigan Long Term Care Ombudsman hotline at 866-485-9393.
- In an emergency, call 911.
Every resident has rights regardless of the home. Read ours on the resident rights page, and see the LARA complaint page and the Michigan Long Term Care Ombudsman program for details.
What a License Check Cannot Tell You
The profile does not tell you whether staff are kind, whether the food is good, how the evening shift feels, or whether your mother will be happy there. Those answers come from visiting.
So use the check to narrow the field, then visit the homes that pass. Go at lunch. Go in the evening if you can. Watch how staff speak to residents when they think no one is looking. Then compare what you saw with what the report said.
If you are still deciding what level of care your parent needs, our levels of care page explains how support changes over time, and our signs your parent needs assisted living guide can help you start the conversation.
Questions Families Often Ask
Yes. The LARA facility search is public and free to use.
"Assisted living" is a common term, not a license name. Michigan licenses homes for the aged and adult foster care homes. Ask any home which license it holds.
Yes. Reports listed on a facility's profile are public.
Try the street address or a former name. If you still cannot find it, ask the home for its license number and look it up by number. If it cannot give you one, treat that as a serious warning sign.
Check before you tour, again before you sign, and any time a concern comes up.
According to LARA's profile page, corrective action plans can be requested under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Bottom Line
A license check will not make the decision for you, but it takes about 20 minutes and gives you facts instead of promises. Look up the home, read the reports in full, look for patterns, and ask the home about what you find.
We encourage every family to do this, including with us. Dream Estates is a Home for the Aged at 16000 Pembroke Ave in Detroit, and we are glad to talk through our license, our reports and our answers. You can also read about our admission process before you call.
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