Landlord & Tenant

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Tractor cultivating field at spring
Tractor cultivating field at spring,aerial view

​Inflation remains high. Landlords, particularly agricultural landlords, may well want or need to raise rents. Raising rent on an agriculture lease may be especially difficult.

Generally, the terms of a written lease control the modification of rent. In contrast to a typical written lease, many agricultural leases are verbal, and the tenancy is typically on a year-to-year basis. Therefore, an agricultural landlord will need to terminate the verbal lease to raise rent.
Verbal Leases
The Wisconsin statutes set out…
Continue Reading The Benefits of Written Leases for Agricultural Landholders

I originally wrote this post in 2018. While I don’t love utilizing old blog posts, this is an important topic and the fact that more tenants don’t know their rights/get caught in these trap doors, is a personal pet peeve. With COVID dollars drying up and evictions back in person in Milwaukee County, I thought it was a good time to dust off this post and re-visit it.

In Wisconsin, there are plenty of “gotchas” or “trap doors” in…
Continue Reading Rent Never Abates to Zero and Other Tips for Tenants (again!)

My next Landlord Boot Camp for the Rental Property Association of Wisconsin, Inc. (formerly known as the AASEW) will be held on Saturday November 4, 2023. This Boot Camp will be in-person and streamed virtually. You choose the format that best serves you.
There have been so many changes in how evictions and other Landlord-Tenant law matters are handled post COVID that I strongly recommend that you attend this Boot Camp to get caught up on all the changes. …
Continue Reading Next LANDLORD BOOT CAMP will be November 4, 2023

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State of Wisconsin sent this bulletin at 06/22/2023 09:46 AM CDT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 22, 2023Contact: GovPress@wisconsin.gov Gov. Evers Signs Bipartisan Package of Affordable Housing Legislation MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today signed five bipartisan bills to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for working families, a critical effort to help support the state’s workforce and maintain the state’s economic momentum. “Access to safe, reliable, and affordable housing statewide is an absolutely critical part of addressing Wisconsin’s…
Continue Reading Governor Evers Signs Bipartisan Package of Affordable Housing Legislation

Two U.S. Senators recently introduced a new federal bill that is being referred to as the “Fair Housing Improvement Act” (FHIA).  The FHIA introduces two additional protected classes to the seven protected classes under the Fair Housing Act of 1968.  
The first proposal would make veterans of wars a new federal protected class.
The second, would make “source of income” a new federal protected class.  If “source of income” becomes a federal protected class then landlords would be unable…
Continue Reading Attempt to Add Source of Income and Veteran Status As New Federal Protected Classes

​One or two months’ rent at move-in can be a large amount of money to save up, and getting that money back can be crucial.

When tenants leave a residence for a new one, their landlord is required to return their security deposit or inform them the amount they are receiving within 21 days of vacating the property, per the ATCP 134.06(2). Tenants are required to leave a forwarding address with their landlord, or have their mail forwarded with…
Continue Reading Tip of the Month: 5 Tips to Get a Security Deposit Returned

By Atty. Gary D. Koch
Clauses requiring tenants to provide 60-Day Notice to terminate a month-to-month tenancy are popular – we see them a lot in rental agreements. Recently, though, we have seen the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection take issue with such clauses in rental agreements in month-to-month tenancies that require the tenant to give anything more than a 28-Day Notice to terminate the tenancy.
These DATCP challenges can end one of two ways: the…
Continue Reading Beware of Clauses Requiring More than 28-Days’ Notice to Terminate Month-to-Month Tenancies

A new and updated version of the Nonstandard Rental Provisions (NSRP) form that I draft is available for purchase at Wisconsin Legal Blank.  The need for the revisions were due to conversations that I had with the State (namely the Attorney General’s Office) while defending a client of mine during a Civil Investigative Demand (CID).  During our conversations, the AG’s office informed me that it was their opinion that a NSRP cannot state that a landlord can deduct from a tenant’s…
Continue Reading Updated Nonstandard Rental Provision Form Available Now at Wisconsin Legal Blank

Earlier today, April 10, 2023, HUD announced that two of its housing partners reached a $3 Million settlement with a California property management company and more than 30 owners who were discriminating against families with children by prohibiting any outdoor play activities and requiring adult supervision of all children under the age of 14 years in all common areas.  Its was alleged that tenants who violated those rules faced the threat of eviction.  This discrimination allegedly occurred at more than 48 apartment…
Continue Reading HUD Announces $3 Million Dollar Settlement with California Landlords for Discriminating Against Families With Children By Requiring Supervision and Prohibiting Outside Play

My next Landlord Boot Camp for the AASEW will be held on Saturday March 18, 2023. This Boot Camp will be in-person and streamed virtually. You choose the format that best serves you.

    • Attendees will receive a searchable 100 page + PDF Boot Camp manual, making it easier to search and reference items in the future.
    • A recording will be available to attendees for 14 days after the event to re-watch portions that you want a deeper understanding of.

    …
    Continue Reading The Next Landlord Boot Camp Will Be Held on March 18, 2023

    Hello. I am excited to announce that my latest Landlord Boot Camp — recorded November 2022 — is now available as an On Demand video series. The benefits of this On Demand format are many.

  • You can choose just the video(s) that you are interested in, or the entire seminar.
  • You can watch the videos from the convenience of your own home or office during the rental period.*
  • You will receive the searchable PDF manual that accompanies the video(s)

    • …
    Continue Reading Landlord Boot Camp ON DEMAND: Newly Updated Video and Information Available

    If you are asking yourself this question, there are generally two main issues that you need to be concerned with: (1) Has the tenant surrendered the rental unit (i.e. vacated and has no need to come back to clean, pick up personal property, or for any other reason); and (2) Has the tenant abandoned any remaining personal property. In this post we will discuss the second issue: Has the tenant abandoned their personal property?
    If you have not yet read…
    Continue Reading I Think That My Tenant Has Surrendered the Rental Unit, What Do I Do Now? PART 2: Abandoned Personal Property

    In an ideal world, the tenant would return their keys, remove all personal property (including trash), and leave the rental unit spotless. Then it would be clear that the tenant has surrendered the rental unit and, as there wouldn’t be any personal property remaining, there would be nothing to debate its abandonment. Unfortunately, that rarely happens.

    In this situation, there are generally two main issues: (1) Has the tenant surrendered the rental unit (i.e. vacated and has no need…
    Continue Reading My Tenant Has Vacated the Rental Unit, What Do I Do Now?

    My next Landlord Boot Camp for the AASEW will be held on Saturday November 12, 2021.  This Boot Camp will be in-person and streamed virtually.  You choose the format that best serves you. 

      • Attendees will receive a searchable 100 page + PDF Boot Camp manual, making it easier to search and reference items in the future.
      • A recording will be available to attendees for 14 days after the event to re-watch portions that you want a deeper understanding of.

      …
      Continue Reading The Next Landlord Boot Camp Will Be Held On Saturday, November 12, 2022

      By Atty. Gary D. Koch

      A previous post discussed methods of service of notices terminating tenancy, leaving a discussion on the various notices that can be utilized for a later post. Welcome to that post!

      When a landlord is in a situation where a tenancy needs to be terminated, the landlord must provide the tenant with a notice terminating the tenancy. This termination can be for a variety of reasons, or no reason at all (so long as…
      Continue Reading Back To Basics – Notices Terminating Tenancy

      Unfortunately, landlords sometimes find themselves in the situation where they have to terminate the tenancy of a residential tenant. There are a variety of notices that can be used to do so, and that is a topic for another day. This post is on how to serve a notice terminating tenancy.

      Wisconsin Statue §704.21 delineates the methods by which a landlord can serve a notice on a tenant. Among the options are personal service, substitute service, posting and mailing…
      Continue Reading Back to Basics – Service of the Notice Terminating Tenancy