Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog
Milwaukee Common Council Approves Legislation Requiring Lead-Safe Certification Before a Property can Be Rented To Public
On July 7, 2020, the full City of Milwaukee Common Council approved legislation to create a program certifying that rental properties are lead-safe before they can be rented to tenants.Authored by Alderman Ramsey, this resolution directs the Department of Administration-Intergovernmental Relations Division to seek the introduction and passage of state legislation that would permit the City of Milwaukee to create a program requiring rental property owners to certify that rental ...
GUEST POST: Views on "Landlords Games" Series and the City of Milwaukee's Task Force on LLC's
This is a Guest Blog Post authored by Tim BalleringRecently the Milwaukee Journal ran a series “Landlord Games" that inaccurately portrayed LLCs as being used simply to avoiding paying property taxes and fines. The result is the Milwaukee Common Council is creating a committee to study LLCs and rental housing. Text of proposal. The rental industry is again, noticeably absent from those invited to the table.View ...
City of Milwaukee Looking to Expand Its Residential Rental Inspection Program (a.k.a Landlord Licensing)
The Department of Neighborhood Services (DNS) of the city of Milwaukee is looking to expand its Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) program to additional parts of Milwaukee. Simply put the RRI program is "landlord licensing" at its heart and it may very well be coming to your neighborhood.As background, the RRI program was created in December of 2009 as a so-called "pilot" program. It allowed the city to enter ...
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 ...
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. ...
GUEST POST: Is the Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin Against the City of Milwaukee?
Is the Apartment Association against the City of Milwaukee?After a recent meeting I received an email from an irate member who was offended by some of my commentary regarding the city of Milwaukee, it seemed the association had an anti-Milwaukee tone to its messages. Having committed much of my career to making Milwaukee, especially its central core, a better place to live I was initially surprised by the feedback, ...
GUEST POST: The Importance of Rentals In Milwaukee
Below is a very thought provoking guest post from fellow blogger (and friend and fellow AASEW Board Member) Tim Ballering:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Journal is reporting:Over the next three years, Barrett said raze orders in the city are expected to grow to 1,600 homes, with a cost of $24 million. ”We have a very severe problem right now,” Barrett said.No kidding we have a “severe problem ” This a problem that continues to ...
You Will Not Want To Miss AASEW's Fourth Annual Landlord Boot Camp on Saturday Feb. 25th
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 of dollars.The Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin's Fourth Annual “Landlord Boot Camp” can help you navigate these treacherous waters and teach you how to run your properties with greater profit and less hassles.I have given similar landlord-tenant law seminars to fellow attorneys, landlords, and property manager ...
For Those of You Who Thought The Installation of A Smoke Detector Was Simple . . . READ THIS.
AASEW Board member Tim Ballering wrote the City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services (DNS) back in June to ask for clarification about the proper placement of smoke detectors in his residential rental units in the city of Milwaukee.Ballering was prompted to write to DNS becasue he felt there was some confusion among DNS inspectors as to where smoke detectors should be installed.Below is the entire text of Ballering's email ...
Don't Miss the 2nd Annual East Side Landlord Think Small Conference on Wednesday November 9, 2011
I will be the featured speaker at the upcoming East Side Landlord Think Small Conference on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 from 3 pm - 6:30 pm at UW-Milwaukee, Chapman Hall located at 2310 E. Hartford Avenue, in the Regent's Room on the 2nd floor.This conference is FREE to any and all interested landlords, with a special focus on Milwaukee's East Side landlords.This conference is composed of 3 componants:1. Featured Speaker - I ...
New Report States What Landlords Already Know - That Milwaukee's Regulations Hurt Businesses
This past weekend I read a very interesting report which was drafted by the Institute for Justice as part of its City Study Series entitled Unhappy Days for Milwaukee Entrepeneurs: Brew City Regulations Make It Hard For Businesses To Achieve the High Life.The report is 40 pages long (excluding footnotes) but I encourage everyone to read it. The report touches on the following issues:- How the city rigidly restricts ...
Business Journal Article Addresses Fallout of the City's RRI Ordinance To Date
I was recently interviewed by Business Journal reporter Sean Ryan regarding the fallout of the dismissal of three landlords' lawsuit against the City of Milwaukee regarding the unconstitutionality of its Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) program. My most recent post on the subject can be read here.On October 1, 2010, The Business Journal published its article entitled "Judge Upholds Milwaukee Home Inspection Program. Reporter Sean Ryan spoke with the ...
Landlords Lose Lawsuit
On Wednesday, September 22, 2010, Judge Timothy Witkowiak denied three landlords' motion for summary judgment against the City of Milwaukee and granted the City's cross motion for summary judgment against the landlords, with regard to constitutionality of the city's new RRI ordinance. This ruling effectively ended the lawsuit.The lawsuit dealt with the City's new Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) program/ordinance that went into effect on January 1, 2010. The RRI ordinance requires ...
Hearing on Landlords Lawsuit vs. City To Be Held This Wednesday, September 22nd
The hearing on both the Landlords' and the City's cross motions for Summary Judgment will be held this Wednesday, September 22nd, at 10 am. The hearing will take place before Judge Timothy Witkowiak at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.This hearing could be the final hearing on this lawsuit (barring any appeals) which involves three Landlords suing the City and asking the Court to declare the Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) program unconstitutional ...
FREE Seminar on Evictions - Saturday, August 14th
I will be presenting a free seminar on the topic of evictions for the City of Milwaukee's Landlord Training Program on Saturday, August 14th. I am presenting this seminar on behalf of the Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin (AASEW). The Seminar will run from 9 am - 12 noon and will be held at Alverno College's Wehr Theater which is located at 3441 S. 39th Street. I was informed that there ...
CITY'S MOTION TO DISMISS LANDLORDS' LAWSUIT DENIED BY THE COURT - LAWSUIT CONTINUES
On May 21, 2010, Judge Timothy Wotkowiak, denied the City of Milwaukee's motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by three Milwaukee landlords who sued the city as a result of its newly enacted ordinance requiring mandatory rental inspections of rental housing in two areas of the city.For background information on the ordinance that went into effect on January 1, 2010, please read my November 24, 2009 post. For background information on the ...
Update On Landlords' Lawsuit Against City of Milwaukee and Its Rental Inspection Ordinance
There has not been a lot of media reporting on the lawsuit brought by three landlords against the City of Milwaukee and its rental inspection ordinance so I thought I would take the time to update you on its status.If you are unfamiliar with the basics of the lawsuit you should refer to my earlier post on the topic.The City of Milwaukee has filed a Motion To Dismiss the Landlords' lawsuit. Essentially ...
Milwaukee's New Vacant Building Registration Ordinance Is Here
I need to apologize. I have spent much of my time these last several months following and providing information about the city of Milwaukee's new Residential Rental Inspection ordinance and as such I have inadvertantly failed to let everyone know about another of Milwaukee's new ordinances that will affect rental property owners. I was talking with a client of mine last week prior to the 1:30 pm eviction return calandar in small claims ...
City of Milwaukee's Rental Rehab Program Offers Investors Funds to Rehabilitate Foreclosed Properties
In an effort to rid itself of the many abandoned and foreclosed properties throughout the city, Milwaukee's Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) Rental Rehab Program will provide investors and landlords with financial assistance to rehabilitate foreclosed homes.According to the flyer that I was given, responsible investor owners and landlords who purchase foreclosed homes in the city of Milwaukee may be eligible for forgivable loans of up to $17,500 per unit (or ...
City of Milwaukee Releases Its 2010 Schedule of Special Sessions for The Landlord Training Program
The City of Milwaukee has just released its 2010 Schedule of Special Sessions for The Landlord Training Program. The focus of these 5 special seminars will be on learning how to effectively and professionally manage your rental properties. All of the sessions will take place on Saturday mornings to allow those of you who work an additional job (aside from being a landlord) to attend.I am very honored to have ...