The 10 Deadly Sins: 10 Provisions That Landlords Cannot Include in Their Wisconsin Residential Rental Agreements

With the passage of Act 143 (2012) and Act 76 (2014) the legislature has created several new provisions that a Residential Landlord cannot include in his Rental Agreement. There are currently 10 items, which I affectionately refer to as the "10 Deadly Sins" that if they are included in your Wisconsin residential rental agreement will render the agreement void and unenforceable.

In my representation of landlords over the past 20 years, the two most frequent situations in which I have found an illegal provision in a rental agreement were because: (1) the landlord decided to draft his/her own rental agreement and didn't know that Wisconsin law prohibited him/her from including certain language, and (2) the landlord used a rental agreement that s/he found on the internet that was not drafted by a person knowledgeable about Wisconsin landlord-tenant law.

Section 704.44 of the Wisconsin Statutes sets forth the prohibited provisions.

You cannot include a provision in your Wisconsin residential rental agreement that:

1. Allows a landlord to do any of the following because the tenant has contacted an entity for law enforcement services, health services, or safety services:

a. Increase rent

b. Decrease services

c. Bring an action for possession of the premises (i.e. eviction lawsuit)

d. Refuse to renew a rental agreement

e. Threaten to take any action in (a) - (d)

This prohibition is pretty self-explanatory. You cannot have a rental agreement provision that allows a landlord to retaliate against a tenant in any way just because the tenant has called the police, the municipal building inspection department, or other agency to complain about something that the landlord did (when they shouldn't have) or something the landlord didn't do (when they should have).

2. Authorizes the eviction of a tenant from the property other than by the judicial eviction process set forth in the Wisconsin Statutes.

Essentially this means that you cannot put any language in your rental agreement that states that if the tenant refuses to vacate at the end of a lease or after committing a breach, that the landlord is able to engage in self-help eviction. Your rental agreement cannot state that the landlord can change the locks so that the tenant is locked out. Your rental agreement cannot state that the landlord can remove the door to the apartment. The rental agreement cannot state that the landlord can turn off the heat or electricity to the unit. Nor can your rental agreement state that the landlord can remove the tenant's belongings and put them on the curb or in a storage facility.

If a tenant refuses to leave your property, the only legal way to have them removed is to file an eviction action against them, obtain a judgment of eviction, and if necessary involve the Sheriff's Department to physically remove the tenant. Because this is the only legal way to remove a tenant, it is illegal to include some other procedure to remove a tenant in your Wisconsin residential rental agreement.

3. Provides for the acceleration of rent payments if the tenant defaults or breaches the rental agreement or otherwise waives the landlord's obligation to mitigate damages as required in section 704.29, Wis. Stats.

Some commercial leases include an "acceleration of rents" clause but such clauses are prohibited in Wisconsin residential leases. So if a tenant breaches their rental agreement the landlord cannot require that the tenant immediately pay all future rent through the end of the term. According to sec. 704.29 of the Wisconsin Statutes, the landlord must attempt to mitigate the tenant's damages by trying to re-rent the unit. If the landlord is able to re-rent the unit then the breaching tenant will no longer be responsible for the rent once the new tenant moves in and begins paying rent. If the landlord is unable to re-rent the unit then the breaching tenant will be responsible for all of the rent through the end of the term, however since the landlord is unable to determine if that will be the case at the time of the breach, the landlord cannot include language in the rental agreement that the tenant must pay all future rent immediately upon a breach. It is illegal for a landlord to avoid his duty to mitigate the breaching tenant's damages (i.e. make effort to re-rent the unit) by putting such language in the rental agreement.

4. Requires the tenant to pay the landlord's attorney's fees or costs that are incurred in any legal action or dispute arising under the rental agreement.

This is the illegal provision that I see the most often when reviewing rental agreements. The lease agreements that are sold at OfficeMax and Office Depot contain this prohibited language. This is also the illegal language that was included in the rental agreement at issue in the seminal prohibited rental provision case of Baierl v. McTaggart.

In a commercial lease it is acceptable to include language that requires a tenant to pay for the landlord's attorney's fees and costs however it is not allowed in the residential context. A landlord who prevails in court and has a tenant properly evicted will still be responsible for paying his/her own attorney's fees. If you are interested in learning more about the Wisconsin Supreme Court's reasoning you should read the Baierlcase.

5. Authorizes the landlord or an agent of the landlord to confess judgment against the tenant in any action arising under the rental agreement.

A Wisconsin residential rental agreement is prohibited from including a clause that says that the tenant authorizes the landlord to automatically take a judgment against the tenant and that the tenant has no right to defend against it.

6. Relieves the landlord from liability for property damage or personal injuries caused by the landlord's negligent acts or omissions.

To put it simply, if the landlord causes damage or injury to a tenant then the landlord will be responsible for it. A landlord cannot remove his/her liability by having a tenant sign a rental agreement waiving that responsibility. For example, if a landlord is aware that the railing on his rental property's second floor porch is loose and the landlord has not gotten around to repairing it for several weeks, the landlord could be responsible for the tenant's injuries should he fall off the porch, regardless of what the rental agreement says.

7. Imposes liability on a tenant for any of the following:

(a) Personal injury arising from causes clearly beyond the tenant's control.

(b) Property damage caused by natural disasters or by persons other than the tenant's the tenant's guests or invitees.

This Deadly Sin is even broader in scope than the 6th Deadly Sin. Essentially, the rental agreement cannot state that a landlord can hold a tenant responsible for personal injuries that were caused by something beyond a tenant's control. So if a massive snowstorm injures someone or if an electrician hired by the landlord improperly wires the rental unit and their negligence causes injury to someone, a landlord cannot state that the tenant is liable for those injuries as they were out of the tenant's control.

Similarly, if that massive snowstorm or the faulty wiring by the electrician hired by the landlord results in property damage, a rental agreement cannot state that the tenant in liable for that damage as the damage was caused by a natural disaster and/or a person other than the tenant or the tenant's guests or invitees.

However, it is legal and enforceable for a rental agreement to state that a tenant will be responsible for personal injuries and/or property damage if the injuries or damage were caused by the tenant, the tenant's guests, or the tenant's invitees.

8. Waives any other statutory or legal obligation of the landlord to deliver the unit in a fit or habitable condition or maintain the unit during the tenancy.

A landlord has a responsibility to provide the tenant with an rental unit that is liveable and safe. A landlord also has the responsibility to repair and maintain the property to insure that it remains safe and livable. A landlord cannot avoid this responsibility even if the tenant agrees to allow him/her to do so in the rental agreement.

9. Allows the landlord to terminate the tenancy of a tenant based solely on the commission of a crime in or on the rental property if the tenant, or someone who lawfully resides with the tenant, is a victim of that crime.

Simply stated, your rental agreement cannot state that the tenant or a legal occupant is the victim of a crime.

10. Allows the landlord to terminate a tenant's tenancy for a crime committed in relation to the rental property and the rental agreement does not include the notice of domestic violence protections required under sec. 704.14, Wis. Stats.

Most good rental agreements contain some language along the lines of "Tenant shall not engage in or allow others to engage in any criminal activity on the property." You definitely want to have such language in your rental agreement. Sec. 704.14 requires that all residential rental agreements in Wisconsin must contain the language set forth in the statute verbatim (i.e. word for word - no summaries allowed). If you have failed to include the domestic abuse protections language then your rental agreement will be void if the agreement also includes language allowing you to terminate a tenant's tenancy if the tenant or their guest have engaged in criminal activity. So the key here is to make sure that your rental agreement contains the mandatory notice of domestic abuse protections set forth in sec. 704.14.

Wisconsin residential landlords need to make sure that their rental agreements do not contain any of the aforementioned "10 Deadly Sins." Failure to remove such illegal provisions will result in your rental agreement being declared void and unenforceable and may even expose you to a lawsuit for double damages and attorney's fees by the tenant.

Landlords Lose Lawsuit Against City of LaCrosse

On August 27, 2014, a LaCrosse County judge ruled against several LaCrosse landlords that had sued the city over its local rental registry and inspection ordinance.

The plaintiffs included 34 landlords with rental property in the city of LaCrosse and attacked the cities ordinance on both constitutional grounds as well as arguing that the ordinance violated state law, specifically Act 76, which became law on March 1, 2014. To learn a more about the specifics of Act 76 with regard to local municipalities see my prior blog post.

Prior to the court's ruling, the city unilaterally eliminated a section of the ordinance that said that a landlords could be denied a rental certificate (i.e. the ability to rent out their rental units) if they did not grant access to the rental unit by city inspectors even if the tenant refuses. The judge had earlier advised the city that he would rule against it on that aspect of the ordinance as being a violation of a person's constitutional right against unreasonable searches. As such the city eliminate that part of the ordinance prior to the judge making a ruling.

According to the judge, the remainder of the ordinance does not violate Act 76.

To learn more about the ruling read this article from the LaCrosse Tribune.

Second Lawsuit Filed Alleging Local Ordinance Violates Wisconsin's New Landlord Tenant Law (Act 76)

I just read in the Wausau Daily Herald today that a second legal challenge has been filed based on Wisconsin's new landlord-tenant law (Act 76). The city of Wausau is getting sued by several local landlords over its Residential Rental Licensing Ordinance which requires that rentals be inspected every three years for compliance with the city's local building codes.

One of the arguments in the lawsuit is that the ordinance is contrary to sec 66.0104, Wis. Stats (which was created by Act 76) and prohibits municipalities from enacting or enforcing certain ordinances that affect landlords and tenants. I have covered this aspect in great detail in a prior blog post.

The first lawsuit was filed in La Crosse by the same attorney that is representing the Wausau landlords.

The Wausau landlords are seeking a permanent injunction to prevent the city from enforcing their Residential Rental Licensing Ordinance.

Act 76 - Wisconsin's New Landlord Tenant Law - Part 6: Alternative Disposition of Property During Eviction

Act 76, has amended sec. 799.45 Wis. Stats., and created new options for a landlord to dispose of a tenant's abandoned personal property after the writ has been executed by the Sheriff and the rental unit has been returned to the landlord's possession.

Under the old law, if the rental property was located in a county with a population greater than 500,000 people, a landlord was required to hire a moving company to remove any of the tenant's property that was determined to be of value. Under the old law, if the rental property was located in a county of less than 500,00 people, a landlord could remove the tenant's abandoned property of value himself but was required to post a bond before doing so, which could be very expensive.

With the passage of Wisconsin's new Landlord-Tenant law, Act 76, a landlord can now remove any of the tenant's abandoned property himself, regardless of the size of the county in which the rental property is located, once the Sheriff has executed the writ and the rental property has been returned to the possession of the landlord, and assuming the landlord has complied with the other requirements of sec. 705.05(5), Wis. Stats.

Many landlords -- as well as the press reporting on the new law -- misunderstood the new law and believed that a landlord was no longer required to involve the Sheriff in the eviction. That is not the case. Act 76 did not remove the requirement of involving the Sheriff. The Sheriff must still be hired to remove a tenant that has not voluntarily surrendered the rental unit and the Sheriff is still necessary to return the rental property to the possession of the landlord.

What Act 76 did was remove the requirement that a moving company be used in larger counties and remove the requirement that a landlord post a bond in smaller counties with regard to the removal and disposal of any belonging left by the tenant.

Under the new law a landlord now has three options to choose from when hiring the Sheriff to forcibly remove a tenant and return the rental unit to the possession of the landlord.

1. The landlord can choose to operate under the old law -- and most of my clients are electing to do this -- and still involve and pay for a moving company. The Sheriff will then remove any tenant still on the premises and return the rental property to the landlord. The moving company will then remove any tenant property of value left behind and take it to a storage facility. The Sheriff will remain at the rental property until the moving company has completed its work.

2. The landlord can choose to hire the Sheriff only. Under this scenario, the Sheriff will remove any tenant still on the premises and return the rental property to the landlord. The Sheriff will then leave. The landlord can then dispose of any tenant property left behind as set forth in sec. 705.05 (5), Wis. Stats. (assuming the landlord has the required language in his rental agreement allowing him to dispose of the abandoned property -- see sec. 704.05(5)(bf) -- and abides by the exceptions to the disposal rules -- see sec. 704.05(5)(am) and (b)).

3. The landlord can opt to hire the Sheriff only but also elect to have the Sheriff stick around while the landlord disposes of the tenant's property (assuming the landlord has the required language in his rental agreement allowing him to dispose of the abandoned property -- see sec. 704.05(5)(bf) -- and abides by the exceptions to the disposal rules --- see sec. 704.05(5)(am) and (b)). This option allows the landlord a greater sense of security as the Sheriff will still be present should the tenant decide to visit. Please be aware however that under this option the Sheriff may have certain requirements that must be followed by the landlord, such as requiring the landlord to have a certain number of people assisting him with the removal of the tenant's property, so that the Sheriff is not sitting around for hours waiting for a single landlord to remove and dispose of a tenant's belongings.

Essentially those are the 3 options that a landlord now has to choose from if it becomes necessary to execute a writ of restitution with the Sheriff. While many counties are still working out the details, the feedback that I have received from the various counties in which I practice, has been that things have been going much more smoothly then the press and tenant advocates had prophesized.

First Legal Challenge As A Result of Act 76 (Wisconsin's New Landlord Tenant Law)

I just read an article on WXOW.com today about what I believe to be the first legal challenge as a result of the passage of Act 76 - Wisconsin's new landlord tenant law.

Two local landlords in La Crosse, Wisconsin are suing the city of La Crosse over its new registration and inspection ordinance which only applies to rental units. Per the article written by Dave Solie of WXOW.com, local attorney Bernardo Cueto filed the suit recently and says the ordinance violates Act 76 because it requires landlords to follow rules not required of other landowners. Mr. Cueto is quoted as saying "Act 76 was designed to promote equality between homeowners and renters and protect renters from unreasonable rules created by local governments and intrusions on their homes and privacy."

Act 76 amended sec. 66.0104, Wis Stats. and prohibits municipalities from enacting or enforcing certain ordinances that affect landlords and tenants, which I have discussed fully in a prior blog post.

The La Crosse Tribune also covered the lawsuit filing.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out as there was a similar ordinance enacted in Wausau recently and of course good ol' Milwaukee has the Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) pilot program which is very similar in nature.

Act 76 - Wisconsin's New Landlord Tenant Law - Part 5: Domestic Violence Notice Langauge & More Prohibited Rental Agreement Provisions

Act 76 has made many changes to Landlord-Tenant law in Wisconsin, some of which I have explained in prior blog posts. One of the biggest changes, which I have not yet blogged about, is the requirement that a landlord include language notifying tenants of certain domestic abuse protections in all rental agreements or addenda as of March 1, 2014.

The required language is set forth in sec. 704.14, Wis. Stats. and must be included verbatim in the rental agreement - it cannot be modified or summarized.

The language that must be included is:

NOTICE OF DOMESTIC ABUSE PROTECTIONS

(1) As provided in section 106.50 (5m) (dm) of the Wisconsin statutes, a tenant has a defense to an eviction action if the tenant can prove that the landlord knew, or should have known, the tenant is a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking and that the eviction action is based on conduct related to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking committed by either of the following:

(a) A person who was not the tenant's invited guest.

(b) A person who was the tenant's invited guest, but the tenant has done either of the following:

1. Sought an injunction barring the person from the premises.

2. Provided a written statement to the landlord stating that the person will no longer be an invited guest of the tenant and the tenant has not subsequently invited the person to be the tenant's guest.

(2) A tenant who is a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking may have the right to terminate the rental agreement in certain limited situations, as provided in section 704.16 of the Wisconsin statutes. If the tenant has safety concerns, the tenant should contact a local victim service provider or law enforcement agency.

(3) A tenant is advised that this notice is only a summary of the tenant's rights and the specific language of the statutes governs in all instances.

Unfortunately many landlords are not even aware of this new requirement. Others complain that this will make their rental agreements 1/2 page longer. Depending on formatting - this very well may be true. Nonetheless, any rental agreements that are entered into or renewed as of March 1, 2014, must include this language. If your rental agreement does not contain this language you your rental agreement will be declared void and unenforceable.

Why is that you ask? Keep reading.

Act 76 also modified and created additional provisions that cannot be included in a Landlord's rental agreement. If a landlord includes any prohibited provision in his/her rental agreement the lease will be void and unenforceable. I affectionately refer to these illegal provisions as the "10 Deadly Sins."

Act 76 created the 10th Deadly Sin which is directly related to the DV protection language discussed above.

A rental agreement will be void and unenforceable if it allows the landlord to terminate the tenancy of a tenant for a crime committed in relation to the rental property if it does not also include the new domestic abuse protection language set forth in sec. 704, 14, Wis. Stats.

This is huge. So hopefully any rental agreements that you have entered into since March 1st of this year contain this required language. If they do not, you should immediately create an Addendum to your rental agreement that includes the DV notice language and send it to your tenants immediately so that you are in compliance. If you are using pre-printed rental agreement forms you must insure that they have been updated to include this language. I can assure you that the rental agreement form that I draft for Wisconsin Legal Blank Co. has had this language added. Going forward you only should be using the WLB rental agreement form that has a publication date of 2/17/14 or later.

Act 76 also modified the 9th Deadly Sin which was created by Act 143 (which became law in March 31, 2012). The "old" 9th Deadly Sin stated that a rental agreement was void if it allowed a landlord to evict a tenant as a result of a crime committed in or on the rental property if the tenant could not have reasonably prevented the crime. This language was problematic for many landlords. As such the 9th Deadly Sin was modified in Act 76 to read:

A rental agreement will be void and unenforceable if it contains a provision that allows the landlord to terminate the tenancy of a tenant based solely on a crime being committed if the tenant, or someone lawfully living with them, is a victim of that crime.

Hopefully there will not be any new Deadly Sins created in the near future. If there are, we will end up having more clauses that cannot be included in a residential rental agreement than can be included ; ).

Revised Wisconsin Legal Blank Forms Will Be Available on Monday, February 17th

As I hope most of you are aware, Wisconsin passed a new law that will great affect landlord-tenant law - Act 76. Whenever the law is changed, there is usually a need to revise and/or update your rental documents to comply with the law. That is definitely the case with the changes from Act 76.

As such, I have had to update many of the rental documents that are sold at Wisconsin Legal Blank.

The new law becomes effective March 1, 2014. So for those of you that use the WLB forms you will want to use these revised forms for any new tenancies that commence on or after March 1, 2014.

The following Wisconsin Legal Blank forms have been revised:

1. Residential Rental Agreement (#19)

The changes made to this form are very important. As of March 1, 2014, it will be required that all residential rental agreements include certain language that provides notice of domestic abuse protections. Act 76 states that a rental agreement will be void and unenforceable if it allows a landlord to terminate a tenancy for a crime and the rental agreement fails to include the domestic violence notice language. As a result of having to add this additional language verbatim the Residential Rental Agreement form will be much longer.

Several other changes and modifications were made to this form as well including:

a. Revision of the "Extermination Costs" section

b. Addition of a "Non-Waiver" section

c. Addition of a "Criminal Activity Prohibited" section

d. The "Notice to Vacate" section was modified to clarify the law better regarding terminating a lease for term. The 30 day notice required to terminate a month to month tenancy was changed to 28 days to coincide with Wisconsin statutes.

e. The "Abandoned Property" section was modified to comply with the law changes in Act 76

f. Additional language was added to clarify that operating a business or providing child care services are not allowed in the rental unit.

g. Additional language was added in the section entitled "Security Deposit" to state that if the repair costs for tenant damages are not known in time for the sending of the security deposit transmittal letter that a "good faith" estimate may be used.

f. Clarifying language was added to the "Breach and Termination" section.

2. Residential Lease Renewal or Notice To Vacate (#970) -- Was updated to comply with Act 76's changes regarding abandoned property.

3. Notice of Rent Increase (for Month to Month Tenant) (#332) - Was updated to comply with Act 76's changes regarding abandoned property.

4. Check-In / Check-Out Sheet (#997 and #993) -- Was updated to to comply with Act 76 with regards to the title and the "When To Use" explanation as well as some stylistic changes.

5. Rental Application (#996) - Eliminated some sections that were not needed and could possibly cause problems for landlords, added some additional instructions for applicant, restructured the layout of the form, and reworded much of the language at the bottom of the signature page.

6. Nonstandard Rental Provisions (#984) -- Rewrote the "When To Use" section to better explain the purpose of a NSRP document, removed the "Miscellaneous Matters" section of the form, revised the statutory references, and fixed some grammatical issue.

I can't stress enough how important it is to use updated/revised forms when they become available. I still see landlords using the Residential Rental Agreement that was drafted over 10 years ago. There are important reasons that rental documents are updated: (1) To comply with law changes, (2) To eliminate problem language that has caused landlords problems. Each new version of these forms are supposed to make your life easier. Using old forms is just an invitation for problems. Effective, March 1, 2014, failing to use the revised Residential Rental Agreement may result in your Agreement being declared void and unenforceable.

T

AASEW Meeting: Come Learn About The New Landlord-Tenant Law (Act 76) on Feb. 17th

As many of you know I have been blogging over the past month or so about aspects of the new Landlord-Tenant law that goes into effect on March 1, 2014. Well, I will continue to blog about the new law in the future, but if you would prefer to learn all about Act 76 in its entirety you should plan on coming to the next AASEW monthly meeting on Monday, February 17, 2014 at 7 pm at the Best Western in Brookfield.

Atty. Heiner Giese and myself, both of whom were actively involved in the drafting of this new law, will be presenting the new law in its entirely at this meeting. I will be handling out my outline/summary of the new law as well and Heiner will be handing out copies of the new language that MUST be included in all residential real rental agreements as of March 1, 2014.

In my opinion, this will be the single most important AASEW meeting of the year. So you will not want to miss it.

Attendence at the meeting is free for current AASEW members or $25 per person for non-members (if you join the AASEW at the meeting the $25 fee will be credited to your membership). If you would like to join the AASEW ahead of time so that you can more quickly find a seat for the meeting you should call Betzi at 414-276-7378 prior to the meeting.

I look forward to seeing everyone there.

T

Act 76 - Wisconsin's New Landlord-Tenant Law - Part 4: Who May File An Eviction and Who May Appear In Court

Act 76 which will become effective on March 1, 2014 has changed Wisconsin law with regard to who may file an eviction action and who can appear in court to prosecute an eviction.

Current law only allows the person or entity "entitled to the possession of the property" to file an eviction action. Typically this would be the owner of the rental property. As such, a management company or another third party cannot currently be named as the plaintiff in an eviction action -- only the owner can.

In the past, the Milwaukee County Court Commissioners where monitoring this issue closely, even going so far as to look up the tax bill for the rental property online while the case was in court to insure that the named plaintiff in the eviction lawsuit was the owner named on the tax bill. If they were not, the case would either be dismissed or adjourned to allow the owner to be substituted as the plaintiff and appear in court.

Act 76 will amend sec. 799.40(1), Wis. Stats., and as of March 1, 2014, an eviction lawsuit may be filed by either:

1. The person entitled to possession of the property (i.e. owner), OR

2. An agent of the person entitiled to possession of the property as long as they are authorized to do so in writing.

So in the very near future, it will be legal for a property management company to file an eviction lawsuit on behalf of one of their clients (the owner) as long as the owner has authorized the property management company to do so in their management contract or a separate writing.

Similarily, Act 76 will also change who may appear in court to represent the named party in an eviction action.

Current law allows a person entitled to possession of the property (which can be a person, business entity, trust etc.) to appear by the person himself or herself, an attorney, or a full-time employee. As a result, landlords that had transferred their rental properties into a LLC (limited liability company) for liability protection were required to appear in court by an attorney unless they could prove that they were a full-time employee of the LLC (which was typically not the case).

So under current law, if an LLC was the owner of the rental property -- and thus was required to be the named plaintiff -- it could only appear in court through a lawyer. A member of the LLC, even if it were a single member LLC, could not appear in court to represent the LLC. To those of you who understand the basics of what is referred to as the "corporate fiction" of a business entity and understand that a business entity (even a sole member LLC) is distinct and separate from the individual person, this made sense. Nonetheless, from a practical perspective it was frustrating to many smaller landlords that had opted to move their rental real estate into a LLC that they could no longer appear in court to prosecute an eviction.

Act 76 has eliminated the requirement that the person be a full-time employee of the business entity in order to appear in court on its behalf.

As of March 1, 2014, it will be acceptable for a party in any small claims lawsuit to appear in court by himself/herself, by an attorney, by a member (as defined in sec. 183.0102(15), Wis. Stats.), by an agent, by an authorized employee of the person, or by an agent of the member or an authorized employee of the agent.

So pretty much anyone can now appear in court to represent an owner or management company on an eviction as of March 1, 2014.

It is important to remember that this law change applies to all small claims actions, not just evictions. So this change will affect small claims collections lawsuits, replevins etc. Additionally, the new law applies to ALL parties - not just landlords. So a tenant will now also be able to appear in court by an agent or authorized employee.

While I am no Nostradamus, I think it is fair to say that this particular change in the law will result in bit of confusion and congestion in eviction court. It may also result in some eviction cases being dismissed if the landlord does not have a firm grasp of landlord-tenant law and small claims procedure. For those of you that are interested in appearing in court yourself, I would reccomend that you educate yourself accordingly. Attending the AASEW's Landlord Boot Camp on March 8, 2014, to insure that you know what you are doing would not be a bad idea.

And for those of you that have better things to do than waste an afternoon sitting in eviction court, you still will have the ability to hire an attorney to represet you ; )

JUST ANNOUNCED: AASEW's Next Landlord Boot Camp - Saturday, March 8, 2014

Landlording can be pretty complex, with a seemingly never ending myriad of paperwork, rules, landlord-tenant laws and simple mistakes that can cost you thousands.

The Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin's 9th “Landlord Boot Camp" can help you navigate these treacherous waters and learn how to run your properties with greater profit and less hassles.

Who: Taught by Attorney Tristan Pettit, who drafts the landlord tenant forms for Wisconsin Legal Blank

When: March 8th, 2014 Saturday 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM Registration opens at 7:00 AM

Where: Clarion Hotel 5311 S. Howell Avenue, Milwaukee [Map]

Included: 100 plus page manual to help you put what you learn into practice.

Price: Members $159. Non-Members $249

Specials: Not a member? Pay just $1 more than the non member price and receive both the Boot Camp and an AASEW membership for the remainer of 2014 including member discounts at Home Depot, Sherwin Williams and more.

Wisconsin landlord-tenant laws are constantly changing. To help keep you up to date we offer prior attendees a $50 discount.

What you will learn at the Apartment Association's 2014 Landlord Boot Camp

Landlord Boot Camp covers everything that you need to know about residential Landlord Tenant law in Wisconsin, as amended in March 2012 by Act 143 and again in March 2013 with the passage of Act 76, including:

1. How to properly screen prospective tenants.
2. How to draft written screening criteria to assist you in the selection process.
3. How to comply with both federal and state Fair Housing laws including how to comply with “reasonable modifications" and “reasonable accommodations" requests.
4. How to legally reject an applicant.
5. What rental documents you should be using and why.
6. When you should be using a 5-day notice versus a 14-day notice, 28-day notice, or 30-day notice and how to properly serve the notice on your tenant.
7. Everything you wanted to know (and probably even more than you wanted to know) about the Residential Rental Practices (ATCP 134) and how to avoid having to pay double damages to your tenant for breaching ATCP 134.
8. When you are legally allowed to enter your tenant's apartment.
9. How to properly draft an eviction summons and complaint.
10. What to do to keep the commissioner from dismissing your eviction suit.
11. What you can legally deduct from a security deposit.
12. How to properly draft a security deposit transmittal ("21 Day") letter
13. How to handle pet damage.
14. What to do with a tenant's abandoned property and how this may affect whether or not you file an eviction suit.
15. How to pursue your ex-tenant for damages to your rental property and past due rent (and whether it is even worth it to do so).
16. An ample question and answer period. This alone is worth the admission. . . . and much more.

You get all this for less than you would pay for an hour of an attorney's time.

Last year's AASEW Landlord Boot Camp was filled to capacity. So call early to reserve your spot.

The easiest way to register is to do so online at www.LandlordBootCamp2014.com or you can call the Association at (414) 276-7378 or email them membership@apartmentassoc.org today to reserve your spot.

Hope to see many of you there.

T

ACT 76 - Wisconsin's New Landlord-Tenant Law - Part 3: Speeding Up the Eviction Process

Several of the provisions of Wisconsin's New Landlord-Tenant law, Act 76 (SB 179), were created or amended to speed up the eviction process. Evictions are supposed to be summary proceedings and per the Wisconsin Supreme Court (Scalzo v. Anderson, 87 Wis. 2d 834 (1979)) there are very limited number of issues permissible in an evictions action. Nonetheless, tenants were finding ways to delay the process. Hopefully Act 76 will resolve much of that delay.

First, Act 76, amends sec. 799.12, Wis. Stats. to allow circuit courts in the various counties to decide via local rule whether or not to allow service of an eviction summons via certified mail. Current law does not allow service of an eviciton by mail and requires that an eviction summons be served personally, or after reasonable diligence has been made, via substituted service or posting and mailing.

If a county allows service via mail, then the clerk shall mail a copy of the eviction summons to each defendant at their last known address. Service of the summons will be considered completed when mailed, unless the envelope enclosing the summons has been returned unopened to the clerk prior to the court date.

I personally think that service of an eviction summons via mail will cause logistical problems. I can tell you right now that Milwaukee and Dane counties certainly will not agree to service by mail in eviction actions but possibly it will work in smaller counties.

Second, Act 76 amends sec. 799.05(3)(b), Wis. Stats. and states that the return date (initial appearance) in court can be no less than 5 days and no more than 25 days after service is issued (i.e. the tenant is served with the eviction summons). Current law requires the return date be held no less than 5 days and no more than 30 days after service.

It will be important that landlords make sure that their process servers are aware of this law change starting March 1, 2014 otherwise it could result in their evictions being dismissed if the return date/initial appearance is scheduled more than 25 days after service is effectuated.

Third, sec. 799.206 and sec. 799.20(4), Wis. Stats, have been amended to require that all contested hearings in small claims actions (evictions, garnishments, replevins etc.) must be scheduled within 30 days of the return date/initial appearance.

Even more important to landlords is that all residential evictions trials on the first cause of action (i.e. return of the premises) must be held and completed within 30 days of the return date/initial appearance. This law new law applies to both trials to the court and jury trials.

I personally feel that this change is the most important part of Act 76 in terms of speeding up the eviciton process. While many evictions are not contested and the landlord obtains a default judgment, those that are contested can take a long time to get to trial. Many tenants and their advocates have been requesting jury trials on eviction matters. By doing so - at least in Milwaukee county - these cases are rotated to a large claims judge handling civil matters (as the small claims judge does not handle jury trials) and result in a lengthy delay. In some of my contested eviction cases, it was taking 2 months to even get before the judge for a Scheduling Conference and the jury trial itself was not being scheduleded until 6 months after the return date.

While tenants are entitled to their day in court -- which includes a jury trial if they wish -- they should not be given a 6 month reprieve just by requesting a jury trial. During those 6 months the landlord often is not receiving any rent payments and/or the "good" tenants in the building are stuck putting up with the actions of the breaching tenant. In my opinion, requesting a jury trial in an eviction action is nothing more than a delay tactic. Tenants and their advocates have been successful in buying more time and in making the eviction process more expensive for the landlord by driving up his/her costs and fees. Of all the jury trials requested by tenants in eviction cases that I have been involved in (which number over 20 - most of which occurred this past year) not one of them actually went to trial. So I am very happy to this new law hopefully put a stop to this abuse of the system. Tenants will still get their trials but they can no longer stretch it out for months and months. How the courts will assimilatate these jury trials within the 30 day time limit will be the key issue moving forward.

If you missed my prior posts on Wisconsin's new landlord-tenant law you can click on the links below

Part 1 - Background and Overview

Part 2 - Restrictions on Local Ordinances

Governor Walker Signed 2013 Wisconsin Act 76 (SB 179) Into Law Today

2013 Wisconsin Act 76 (SB 179) was signed into law today, December 12, 2013, by Governor Scott Walker in his office at the Capital building.

Many people attended the signing, including myself. It was the first law signing that I have ever attended and was very intersting. I was able to get a photograph with the Governor, had him sign a copy of his new book (a Christmas gift for my mother) and even received a pen that was used to sign a portion of the new law.

I learned after the signing that the pens that are handed out to the attendees at a law signing are each used to sign at least some part of the new law. So for example one pen is used by the Governor for his signature. Another pen is used to write the "D" in the date "December". Another pen is used to write the "e" in "December" and so on and so on. It was humorous watching him pick up each pen and write something then put it down and pick up another pen, write something, put in down . . . and so on and so on.

So Act 76 (I'm so used to calling it SB 179 that it will take some time to get used to the new name) was enacted today (Dec. 12, 2013) and will be published tomorrow (Dec. 13, 2013). The law will become effective on March 1, 2014, except for the section on towing which will become effective on July 1, 2014.

Congratulations to everyone that worked on this new law! Here is a link to Act 76.

T

ACT 76 - Wisconsin's New Landlord-Tenant Law - Part 2: Restrictions on Local Ordinances

As I mentioned in Part 1, the soon to be new law contains new provisions as well as some corrective provisions (which will correct unintended consequences from last year's new law Act 143). In this blog post I will talk about one of the new provisions of the law which will restrict a local municipality from creating and/or enforcing certain local ordinances.

The new law will creates sec. 66.0104(2)(c) and (d), Wis. Stats., which says that a municipality may not enact or enforce an ordinance that:

a. Limits a residential tenant’s responsibility, or a residential landlord’s right to recover for damage, waste or neglect of the premises, or for any other costs, expenses, fees payments or damages for which tenant is responsible under law or under the rental agreement.

b. Requires a landlord to communicate to a tenant any information that is not required to be communicated under federal or state law.

i.e. City of Madison’s ordinance that requires landlords to distribute voter registration information to new tenants will not be enforceable under this new law.

c. That requires a landlord to communicate to a municipality any information regarding the landlord or tenant unless:

(1) Information is required under federal or state law.

(2) Information is required of all residential real estate owners (not just landlords!)

(3) Information will enable a person to contact the owner, or agent of the owner.

Note: This subsection does not apply to an ordinance that has a reasonable and clearly defined objective of regulating the manufacture of illegal narcotics.

So what will the net effect of this new provision of the law curtailing local municipalities from enacting and enforcing certain ordinances? According to one tenant advocate SB 179 will eliminate over 20 Madison ordinances. SB 179 should also eliminate Milwaukee’s Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) pilot project in the UW-M and Lindsay Heights neighborhoods.

It should be noted however that the new law will not eliminate "rental recording" in various municipalities as earlier versions of SB 179 had. Under the final version of the law, landlords will still have to provide their ownership and contact information to the municiaplity since doing so would fall under the above exception since the information will enable a person to contact the owner or agent of the owner.

To learn more on the background and overview of Wisconsin's new Landlord-Tenant Law read my prior post.

Governor Walker To Sign Wisconsin's New Landlord-Tenant Law Next Week

I have recently learned that Governor Scott Walker will be signing Senate Bill 179 into law next week Thursday, December 12, 2013 at 8 AM in the Governor's Conference Room in Madison.

Senate Bill 179 will be signed along with a group of other bills starting at 8 AM that morning.

Those of us involved in the drafting of this bill are happy to see all of the hard work come to a close.

What most people want to know is if the Governor signs the bill into law on December 12th, when will the new law become effective?

All but one section of the new law will become effective as of March 1, 2014 (the 3rd month after enactment). The section dealing with the towing of vehicles (sec. 349. Wis. Stats.) will become effective as of July 1, 2014 (the 7th month after enactiment) as the Department of Transportation will need to draft several regulations to flesh out the new towing laws.

ACT 76 - Wisconsin's New Landlord-Tenant Law - Part 1: Background and Overview

Senate Bill 179, which is commonly referred to as the "Landlord-Tenant Law Bill," is on its way to becoming law in the near future. For many of us it has been a long wait.

After initially being introduced in the Wisconsin Senante on May 8, 2013, the Senante concurred to some changes made to SB 179 by the Assembly on October 16, 2013. It is expected that Governor Walker will sign this bill into law prior to the end of the year.

The new law is 8 pages long and will make sweeping changes to Wisconsin's landlord-tenant laws as we currently know them. This new law will benefit landlords and "good" tenants. "Bad" tenants (i.e. those that don't pay rent on time, cause damage to the rental property, ignore the rights of their neighbors and fellow tenants etc. etc.) will not like this new law.

This new law was initially created to fix many of the unintended consequences from last year's Landlord's Omnibus law -- Act 143. Act 143 was unfortunately rushed through the legislative process in a little over a month. Rushed legislation is never good. As a result of the speed with which Act 143 was created, coupled with the fact that those of us that spend most of our days dealing with landlord-tenant issues were not consulted, there were some serious flaws in Act 143. SB 179 will repair those flaws.

Fortunately, SB 179 was not rushed like its predecessor. Work on SB 179 began even prior to Act 143 becoming law -- once the problems were recognized. Many of us involved in the process worked on SB 179 since April of 2013. SB 179 was officially introduced in the Senate on May 8, 2013, and as mentioned previosly, it was finalized in mid-October. So from start to finish it took approximately 6 months not including the time for the Governor to sign it.

I have been asked by many over the past few weeks, when will this new law become effective. Well, the answer to that depends in part on when the Governor signs it. SB 179 states that most componants of the new law will become effective on the 1st day of the 3rd month following its publication. So it would become effective February 1, 2014 or March 1, 2014 depending on when it is signed into law.

By my count, the new law repaired/corrected 6 sections of Act 143 and introduced or amended an additional 13 other sections that will affectlandlord-tenant law in Wisconsin.

In future blog posts during I will summarize and discuss all 19 componants of the new law.

Why I Am So Excited About This Saturday's AASEW Landlord Boot Camp

I am really excited about this Saturday's AASEW Landlord Boot Camp. Why you ask? Well let me tell you.

Just last week the Senate in Madison passed SB 179 which is a very large and sweeping revision to much of landlord-tenant law in Wisconsin. This bill not only cleans up the unintended consequences of last years Act 143, it also makes some major changes such as:

- Applies the new streamlined abandoned property law to evictions

- Allows the towing of vehicles on private property without the need for a citation to be issued first

- Prevents municipalities from requiring landlords to distribute information or report information to the government that is not required by state or federal law

- Allows non-lawyers to appear in court to represent their LLC's in eviction and other small claims actions

- It speeds up the eviction process - requiring the court to hear and complete an eviction trial within 20 days of the return date

- Allows property management companies or another agent of the owner to file evictions on behalf of their clients/owners

- Clears up the confusion regarding evicting a tenant that was involved in criminal activity

This bill has not yet been signed into law, but barring a veto from Governor Walker -- which is not anticipated -- it will become law very soon. SB 179 will help landlords and good law-abiding tenants alike.

So the reason I am so excited about this Saturday's Boot Camp is because it will be the 1st opportunity I have to teach landlords and property managers about the new changes.

SB 179 is a very comprehensive law. I just completed my outline this past weekend and boy there is a lot of information to cover.

If you are interested in learning about this new bill as well as the 7 other large topics that I will be teaching (including: the judicial eviction process, causes for eviction, security deposit issues, screening applicants, rental documents and much much more) at this Fall's Boot Camp -- please go to www.landlordbootcamp2013.com and sign up as there are still a few spots left!

I hope to see many of you there.

T