Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog
ATTENTION LANDLORDS: Wisconsin Court of Appeals case of Koble v. Marquardt Is Now Law
This is a long blog post, and I apologize in advance, but I sincerely hope that you take the time to read it all the way until the end as it is very important that Wisconsin landlords know what they will be facing. This may be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, issues facing landlords in the last 30 years that I have been a practicing attorney, representing ...
Part 2: Landlords Can Be Liable for the Discriminatory Acts of Their Tenants
I received an email from a reader regarding my last post about the Wetzel case. The reader essentially asked me what a landlord could do to make sure that they do not become liable for the discriminatory acts of their tenants like what happened to the landlord in the Wetzel case.While I cannot give legal advice (i.e. applying the law to a certain set of facts) via this blog, I ...
Landlords Can Be Liable for the Discriminatory Acts of Their Tenants
Perhaps one of the most important cases to be published in 2018 affecting landlord-tenant law was the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals case of Wetzel v. Glen St. Andrew Living Community, LLC, 2018 WI 4057365 (7th Cir. Aug 27, 2018). In the Wetzelcase the Seventh Circuit (which includes Wisconsin) held that a landlord may be liable under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) for failing to protect a tenant from ...
GUEST POST: An Important Eviction Case Heard By Wisconsin Supreme Court
An important eviction case heard by the WI Supreme CourtAttorney Heiner Giese on behalf of the Apartment Association filed an Amicus brief with the WI Supreme Court supporting the City of Milwaukee Housing Authority in their case against Cobbs. This case was heard by the Supreme Court yesterday.Basically the case revolves around the federal “one strike and you're out" rule for Section 8 housing and the state of ...
New & Improved Nonstandard Rental Provisions Form Available at Wisconsin Legal Blank
As many of you know, I draft the various landlord-tenant law forms that are sold at Wisconsin Legal Blank Co., Inc. In light of the recent court of appeals decision (Keyes & Gruner v. Waldbillig et. al) that I referenced in an earlier ...
Court of Appeals Decision Reminds Landlords To Review Their Nonstandard Rental Provisions Before Making Deductions from A Tenant's Security Deposit
The Wisconsin Court of Appeals, in an unpublished decision dated May 9, 2013, held that a landlord wrongfully withheld a portion of his tenants' security deposit for costs incurred when attempting to re-rent the rental unit.As I have mentioned in a prior post, Wisconsin law essentially allows a landlord to deduct only three things from a tenant's security deposit: (1) damage, waste, or neglect, (2) rent, (3) utilities. Any other items ...
Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Against Landlord in Maryland Arms Case and Chooses To Avoid Answering The Bigger Question
The Wisconsin Supreme Court filed its opinion in this very important case on July 7, 2010. While the majority opinion ruled against the landlord it did not go so far as to say that a landlord and tenant could not allocate liability for damage (when neither party was negligent in causing the damage) in their rental agreement. If you would like to review the specific facts of the case and the ...
Landlords Should Not Play Games With Tenants' Security Deposits
A new landlord-tenant decision has been reccomended for publication. The case of Boelter v. Tschantz involves a tenant suing her past landlord for double damages and attorney’s fees for making improper deductions from her security deposit. The essential facts are as follows:1. Tschantz (the landlord) withheld money from the tenant's security deposit.2. The key deductions that were made were: (1) $323.84 for the tenant's water bill and (2) $85 to repair ...
Oral Arguments On Important Landlord Case To Be Heard on January 6, 2010
The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case of Maryland Arms L.P. v. Connell on Wednesday, January 6, 2010. This is a very important case for landlords as the decision will affect a landlord's ability to contract with his/her tenant.You can learn what the case is about by reviewing my earlier posts from May 28, 2009 and October 15, 2009.Oral arguments will be streamed at ...
MARYLAND ARMS CASE WILL BE REVIEWED BY WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT
In my May 28, 2009 post I wrote about the then recently published Wisconsin Court of Appeals case of Maryland Arms Limited Partnership v. Connell, 2009 WI App 87, __ Wis.2d __, 769 N.W.2d 145. This was an important case because a divided Court of Appeals held that a tenant could not be held responsible for the damages that resulted after her hair dryer caused a fire which resulted in ...
LATE FEES - PART 1: WHAT AMOUNT CAN YOU CHARGE?
Many of my clients ask me what amount they should charge a tenant who is late in paying rent. Many also wonder if there is a maximum amount beyond which they would not be allowed to charge as a late fee.The only legal guidance we have as to what amount is acceptable as a late fee is the case of Three & One Co. v. Geilfuss, 178 Wis.2d 400, 504 N.W. ...
COURT OF APPEALS SAYS TENANT NOT LIABLE FOR FIRE DAMAGE
The court of appeals recently released its decision in the case of Maryland Arms Limited Partnership v. Connell. This decision has been reccomended for publication. The issue in this lawsuit was whether the landlord or the tenant should be liable for damage to an apartment unit when the damage was not caused by the negligence of either the landlord or tenant. The Court of Appeals held that it is ...
NEW PUBLISHED CASE ON EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE STAYS
We will soon have a published Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision on the issue of emergency assistance stays in eviction actions that will assist us as landlords in removing the non-paying tenant.Sec. 799.40(4) of the Wisconsin Statutes states that a court must stay an eviction action brought against a tenant that has applied for emergency assistance. The stay remains in effect until it is determined if the ...