Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog
Milwaukee County Proposes A New Protected Class in Housing - "Receipt of Rental or Housing Assistance"
Milwaukee County Supervisor Maria Dimitrijevec is sponsoring a resolution to amend the Milwaukee County Code of General Ordinances related to Fair Housing to include a new protected class - the "receipt of rental or housing assistance." The resolution has been referred to the Economic Development Committee and may be scheduled to be discussed at the committee's meeting on March 12, 2018 at 9 AM.If passed, this resolution ...
Milwaukee County Issues New Local Rule Regarding Stipulated Dismissals In Eviction Lawsuits
On May 1, 2015, the Chief Judge of Milwaukee County, Judge Jeffrey Kremers, issued new local rule 3.85 concerning Stipulations to Dismiss the first cause of action (possession of the property) in eviction cases.Readers should review local rule 3.85 itself but I have summarized the pertinent points below.1. A landlord and tenant may agree to dismiss the first cause of action (return of premises) in exchange for the ...
AASEW MEETING: Eviction Court Essentials -- Monday, August 19, 2013
The AASEW's next meeting will be this coming Monday, August 19, 2013 at 7 pm at the Best Western in Brookkfield.The Apartment Association of Southeastern WI welcomes Milwaukee County Circuit Court Commissioner Cedric Cornwall as our main speaker at our August meeting. With all of the recent law changes in the landlord-tenant law arena, Commissioner Cornwall will speak to the group on the preferred procedures to follow in eviction court ...
5 Things This Landlords' Attorney Wants For Christmas
With the coming of the holidays, comes list of gifts that people want for Christmas. So I thought I would put together one of my own. So here is a list of the top 5 things that this landlords' lawyer would like for Christmas. 5. That Tenants' Requests For Reasonable Accommodations To Allow for the Keeping of Companion/Comfort Animals Would Actually Be "Reasonable"The past few years -- and especially this past ...
Milwaukee Co. Eviction Court Closure Dates Through End of Year
Milwaukee County just advised many of us that Eviction Court (room 400 only) will be closed the following days:- Friday, November 2, 2012- Friday, November 23, 2012- Friday, December 14, 2012- Monday, December 24, 2012- Monday, December 31, 2012 Note: These closures do NOT apply to Judge Kuhnmuench's courtroom in room 409.
Judge Mary Kuhnmuench Will Be New Small Claims/Eviction Judge in Milwaukee County
In Milwaukee County we get a new small claims/eviction judge each year around August 1st or so. Most judicial rotations are three years long but for some reason --- possibly the high volume, tediousness, pro se litigants, stress level --- the small claims judge rotates every year.Milwaukee County's new small claims/eviction judge effective July 27, 2012, will be Mary M. Kuhnmuench. Judge Kuhnmuench is currently completing her rotation ...
Milwaukee County Releases Dates That Eviction Court Will Be Closed in 2012
Milwaukee County recently released all dates that Eviction Court will be closed in 2012. Most of them are obvious closings for holidays but there are a few that are not holiday-related.So make sure you don't schedule a return date in eviction court for any of these days:May 4, 2012May 28, 2012July 4, 2012September 3, 2012November 2, 2012November 23, 2012December 24, 2012December 25, 2012December 31, 2012
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 ...
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 ...
Revised Small Claims Summons Required To Be Used As of November 1, 2011
In a prior post I explained that the small claims jurisdictional limit was increased from $5,000 to $10,000 as of July 1, 2011. This change has necessitated a revision to the mandatory small claims summons form that is required to be used when filing an eviction, replevin, and collection actions under $10,000 (as well as arbitrations confirmations and personal injury claims less than $5,000).So far, the Clerk of Courts has been accepting ...
Milwaukee County Eviction Court Commissioner To Speak At Next AASEW Meeting on Oct. 17th
On Monday, October 17, 2011, Milwaukee County Eviction Court Commissioner Rosa Barillas will speak at the Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin's general membership meeting.The meeting will start at 7 pm and be held at the Best Western Midway Hotel located at 1005 S. Moorland Road in Brookfield, WI.Commissioner Barillas will speak to the group about mistakes that she sees landlords make in eviction court and how they can ...
Milwaukee County Eviction Court "Odds & Ends"
I wanted to update everyone about some recent news in Milwaukee County Eviction Court. Each of the items are too small for there own blog post, so I thought I would combine them as "Odds & Ends." This might be a regular blog post column in the future : )1. Out with the old and in with the new -- commissioners, that is.Most of the court commissioners that had been serving in small ...
New Rule In Milwaukee County Eviction Court Will Limit The Number of New Evictions to 80 Per Day
In an effort to eliminate the congestion in eviction court, Milwaukee County has imposed a limit of 80 new eviction cases per day. In the past there have been days in which over 300 new eviction cases were scheduled to be heard in the same afternoon, which often became unmanageble.This new limit only applies to new case filings for eviction cases (the 1st cause of action) for return of the property. This new ...
SMALL CLAIMS BENCH/BAR MEETING: Milwaukee County Gives Clarification Regarding Including Late Fees In 5 Day Notices and Other Issues
The Milwaukee County Small Claims court has reinstituted its monthly Bench/Bar meetings. These meetings allow the Milwaukee County Small Claims Court, including Judge Jane Carroll (presiding small claims judge) and the court commissioners, to come together with attorneys that appear regularly in small claims court, to discuss issues and concerns.The most recent small claims bench/bar meeting was held on Monday, December 6, 2010. I was able to attend the meeting ...
Milwaukee County Eviction Court Schedule For The Holidays
For those of you scheduling evictions in Milwaukee County, eviction court will be closed on the following days:- Thursday, December 23, 2010- Friday, December 24, 2010- Thursday, December 30, 2010- Friday, December 31, 2010
EXECUTION OF WRIT: Part 2 - The Details
Last week I provided some basic information about what is involved in the execution of a writ of restitution (eviction) and how the process works. With this week's post I wanted to provide everyone with some additional -- more detailed -- information about the execution process. I attempted to group these tidbits of info by category. Much of the information below is specific to Milwaukee County and the Milwaukee County ...
EXECUTION OF WRIT: Part 1 - The Basics
I have noticed a trend in the last several months of more and more tenants refusing to leave a landlord's rental property even after the landlord has obtained a judgment of eviction against the tenant and been issued a Writ of Restitution ("writ"). As a result of this trend more and more landlords are being forced to go through the process of having the writ executed. The execution of the writ ...
Judge Siefert to Rotate Out of Small Claims Division in August; Judge Carroll to Replace
Walking into the courthouse today I ran into an acquaintance of mine who works within the court system. During our chat I learned that Judge John Siefert, who is currently presiding over the Small Claims Division (which includes all eviction actions) in Milwaukee County, will be rotating to a different calandar come August 1st. Judge Jane Carroll will be replacing Judge Siefert as the Small Claims judge. Judge Carroll is currently presiding ...