New & Revised Landlord-Tenant Forms Available at Wisconsin Legal Blank
As a result of 2015 Act 176 becoming law earlier this month it became necessary to draft and/or revise some of the landlord-tenant forms sold at Wisconsin Legal Blank Co., Inc.
As of March 24th the following revised or new forms will be available at WLB:
- 5 Day Notice To Vacate for Criminal Activity or Drug-Related Criminal Activity
This new notice may be served on a tenant, under any tenancy, if the tenant, a member of the tenant's household, or a guest or other invitee of the tenant or of a member of the tenant's household, has engaged in criminal activity or drug-related criminal activity. The notice cannot and should not be served on a Tenant who is a victim, as defined in Wis. Stat. § 950.02(4), of the criminal activity. It is not necessary that the tenant have been arrested for or convicted of the criminal activity or drug-related criminal activity in order to serve this notice.
For more information on the new law regarding criminal activity in rental housing refer to my blog post summarizing Act 176.
- 5 Day Notice To Vacate for Imminent Threat of Serious Physical Harm
This notice has nothing to do with Act 176. I had never drafted this form in the past because as there did not seem to be a demand. In the last few months I have had many clients encounter domestic violence issues amongst their tenants such that the victim of the domestic abuse has requested that the landlord remove the abuser, and therefore I thought I better create the form.
- Residential Rental Agreement
The biggest change to this form is the inclusion of language regarding criminal activity and drug-related criminal activity on the rental premises as set forth in Wis. Stat. 704.17(3m) as created by Act 176.
I also added a new clause which addresses the non-liability of the landlord in certain circumstances and another clause prohibiting modifications to the premises by the tenant without prior written approval by the landlord.
I also made some smaller changes as a result of the passage of Act 176 which most likely will not even be noticed but are important. Finally, I removed the language that said rent is "due" by a specific date and replaced it with rent "must be received by" a certain date. modified that rent must be "received by" a certain date.
In order to fit the above changes into the form it became necessary to remove the "Co-Signer/Guarantor" section of the Rental Agreement. I am in the process of creating a separate Personal Guaranty Addendum with beefed up language.
I am currently working on the following forms which are not yet available. When they become available I will let you know via this blog.
- A table that summarizes all of the various notices in Wisconsin and when to use each one
- A revised Nonstandard Rental Provisions form
- A Smoking Policy Addendum
- A Personal Guaranty Addendum
- A Bed Bug Addendum
- A basic Commercial Lease
