DNS COMMISSIONER TO SPEAK AT JUNE AASEW MEETING

I hope AASEW members and non-members will all come out in force for AASEW's June membership meeting on June 15, 2009. Our main speaker will be Mr. Art Dahlberg, the Department of Neighborhood Services' new Commissioner. We are not yet certain what Mr. Dahlberg's speaking topic will be, but check back to this Blog for updates. Mr. Dahlberg has been more than willing to meet with the AASEW, its Board of Directors, and landlords in general to help foster a good working relationship between the City and rental property owners.

The AASEW meets on the 3rd Monday of each month at the Best Western Midway Hotel, 1005 S. Moorland Rd., Brookfield.

NEW LEGISLATION TO MAKE VICTIMS OF ABUSE A NEW PROTECTED CLASS

On May 14, 2009, Wisconsin Senator Spencer Coggs and 7 other state senators introduced 2009 Senate Bill 204, the "Victim Fair Housing Act."

This bill will prohibit discrimination in housing on the basis of a person's status as a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking. The bill also prohibits the owner of housing from requiring that a rental applicant supply information concerning the person's status as a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking.

If passed (and there appears to be a great many co-sponsors to date), this bill will create an additional protected class in Wisconsin for victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and/or stalking with regard to housing. Discrimination in housing includes actions such as rejecting a person who applies to rent your property or evicting a current tenant solely because they are a member of a protected class. Wisconsin currently prohibits housing discrimination based on a person's sex, race, color, sexual orientation, disability, religion, national origin, marital status, family status, lawful source of income, age, or ancestry. Some municipalities, like the City of Madison and Dane County, protect more classes than the twelve mentioned above.

While I am not aware of any landlord who would refuse to rent to a victim of abuse, in theory, it is when that theory is dropped into the "real world" that sticky situations may arise. One concern I have is the fact that the abuser often follows his/her victim. This could pose noise and safety issues for the other tenants that reside in the same building with the abuse victim. What happens if the abuser shows up at the victim's apartment, banging on doors and disturbing the quiet enjoyment of the other tenants? Is a landlord allowed to evict the abuse victim/tenant in this situation? Or worse, what if the abuser shows up at the property and engages in criminal acts such as destroying the landlord's property or assaulting other tenants who get in his/her way? Will the landlord be prohibited under this new law from evicting the abuse victim/tenant under this scenario? While I don't think it is fair to evict the abuse victim in these situations, I also don't think it is fair that the other tenants and neighbors should have to endure such situations either. What is the landlord who is providing housing to that abuse victim to do? The landlord also owes his/her other tenants the right to quiet use and enjoyment of the property, free from criminal activity and harm.

Another concern is that, under the City of Milwaukee's nuisance ordinances, a landlord can be fined for repeated police calls from the same property within a certain period. If the abuser should try to contact the abuse victim/tenant, there is a strong probability that the victim will call the police (and they should). But under nuisance laws, even if the police calls are legitimate, too many of them can get the property owner fined. If the landlord doesn't pay the fine, it will be added to his/her property tax bill. While I have no supporting data, I think it stands to reason that a victim of abuse may need to contact the police more often than a non-victim of abuse

I don't know what the answer is, or what it should be. I certainly don't think that victims of abuse should be discriminated against in housing, but I also hope that the legislators, the police, the city, and others who will be drawn into this dialogue will understand that there needs to be some protections or accommodations made for a landlord who may be stuck between the proverbial "rock and a hard place."

Tell me what you think about this new legislation and how it might affect your rental properties.

Here is a link to view the press conference regarding the Victim Fair Housing Act.

AASEW MEETING ON HOW TO BUY FORECLOSED PROPERTIES - MAY 18th

Anyone interested in purchasing foreclosed properties will not want to miss the Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin's upcoming monthly meeting on Monday, May 18, 2009, at 7 pm at the Best Western Midway Hotel, 1005 S. Moorland Rd., Brookfield.

Attorney James Mulligan, an expert in foreclosures, will be the keynote speaker and will discuss how to purchase foreclosed properties and share common pitfalls to avoid. Also on hand will be Jason Fernhaber and Brian Meidam, rental property investors and current AASEW members. Both Jason and Brian have acquired many of their rental properties through foreclosure and will be there to answer any nuts-and-bolts questions you may have about the process.

5-DAY NOTICES AND LATE FEES IN MILWAUKEE COUNTY

Around March 1, 2009, Milwaukee County court commissioners began dismissing eviction lawsuits based on 5-day notices that included amounts other than "rent."

The statute regarding 5-day notices, §704.17, Wis. Stats., states that if a tenant "fails to pay any installment of rent when due," the landlord may issue them a 5-day notice to pay rent or vacate the unit.

In the past, landlords often listed other amounts the tenant owed in their 5-day notices, such as late fees, remaining security deposit amounts, unpaid utility fees, or amounts owed for damage to the unit. Those days appear to be gone.

Milwaukee County is now taking a very narrow view of the definition of "rent." As such, if a landlord includes any amounts other than pure rent in his/her 5-day notice, they risk having their eviction lawsuit dismissed.

As such, landlords will need to pursue these other amounts that the tenant owes during the 2nd and 3rd causes of action for money damages. If the tenant should cure the 5-day notice by paying the rent amounts within the 5-day notice, then the landlord will need to keep track of these other amounts owed and deduct them from the tenant's security deposit at the end of the tenancy or rental term (assuming that those amounts are included in the Nonstandard Rental Provisions and thus can properly be deducted from the tenant's security deposit).

To date, I am not aware of any landlord appealing a court commissioner's decision on this issue to the small claims judge. While the judge could rule differently, I believe the safest approach is for the landlord to exclude any amounts owed by the tenant other than straight rent from his/her 5-day notice.

It does not appear that Milwaukee County is applying the same reasoning to 14-day notices at this time. That most likely is because the statute pertaining to 14-day notices does not limit itself to just "rent."

This is just another example of the many technical pitfalls that can cause a landlord's eviction action to fail. Staying on top of the various L-T laws and their many permutations as applied in Milwaukee County is obvious.

WHO MAY BRING AN EVICTION LAWSUIT

§799.40 of the Wisconsin Statutes states that an eviction action may be commenced by a "person entitled to possession of the property." This law has often been ignored, and many eviction lawsuits have been brought in the name of someone other than the property owner. Often, a management company is named as the plaintiff rather than the property's actual owner.

Milwaukee County is paying close attention to this issue lately. At one of my pre-trials with the court commissioner on an eviction action this week, the commissioner specifically asked whether the plaintiff I represented was the owner of the real estate. The court commissioner then went to his computer and searched the internet to confirm that my client was the person whose name was on the deed to the property.

I have heard of several eviction actions being dismissed lately because the plaintiff's name did not match the name on the deed.

While many management companies have written agreements with the owners of the property they manage that allow the management company to bring an eviction lawsuit on the owner's behalf, I am not aware of whether that argument will prevail. It might or it might not, but why take the chance?

Be safe, and make sure the named plaintiff in the eviction action is the person or entity that owns the property at issue; it is the law.

TENANT PROTECTION ACT PASSED

A new law was recently passed that affects rental property owners who may face foreclosure, as well as individuals purchasing a foreclosed property. Sen. Lena Taylor's bill, the "Tenant Protection Act" (SB 78), was incorporated into the recently passed budget repair bill.

The new law requires that the property owner notify any prospective tenant in writing that (a) a foreclosure action has been commenced, and (b) if a judgment for foreclosure has already been entered, the date when the redemption period expires. Further, any rental agreement entered into while a foreclosure action is pending must include a separate written statement, signed by the tenant, stating that the owner provided the above notice to the new tenant. The tenant may void the rental agreement if it does not include the written statement.

For current tenants, the new law requires the plaintiff in the foreclosure action (typically a financial institution) to give tenants several notices advising them of the status of the foreclosure action. Failure to provide the notices allows the tenant to recover $250 in damages plus reasonable attorney's fees.

Also under the new law, if a tenancy is terminated as a result of a foreclosure judgment, the tenant may retain possession of the unit for up to 2 months after the end of the month in which the sale of the property is confirmed (but the tenant must pay rent during this period at the same rate that was applicable prior to the confirmation). The tenant may also withhold rent equal to the security deposit during the last month of possession. Furthermore, no eviction judgment to remove a tenant whose tenancy was terminated as a result of a foreclosure judgment may be executed before the end of the second month after the foreclosure sale was confirmed.

Finally, if an eviction action was commenced against a tenant and their removal from the rental property was due to a mortgage foreclosure, then no information regarding that eviction can be included on CCAP.

The newly enacted law can be viewed here (it starts on page 108)

A NEW COLLECTIONS TOOL FOR LANDLORDS IS AVAILABLE

The Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin recently entered into a contract with Rent Recovery Service so AASEW members can get a discount on this new collection tool for landlords.

You can access Rent Recovery Services from the AASEW website. After providing Rent Recovery Service with the necessary information about your ex-tenant, RRS will send a letter to the debtor advising them of the debt. If the ex-tenant has not made payment arrangements, you can report the money the tenant owes you to the 3 credit bureaus.

This is definitely worth looking into -- contact Bill Gray at 212-561-5492 or bill@rentrecoveryservice.com for more information and to sign up.

PASSING OF WORTHLESS CHECKS WILL NOT BE PROSECTED IN CITY OF MILWAUKEE

Issuing a worthless check is a crime in Wisconsin. Accordingly, when a tenant pays his/her rent or security deposit with a worthless check, I typically advise my landlord clients to do two things: (1) serve the tenant with the proper notice terminating tenancy for failure to pay rent so that an eviction action can be commenced against the tenant, and (2) report the crime to the local police so that a potential criminal action could be initiated against the tenant. Unfortunately, this second piece of advice is no longer valid -- at least for clients who own or manage rental property in the City of Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Police Department has in place a written policy statement containing 20 exceptions to its normal prosecution of "worthless check" complaints, and one of those policy exceptions directly affects landlords and/or their agents: Policy Exception 17 states that "checks issued pursuant to any contractual agreement, including the payment of rent or security deposits for rental property," will not be pursued. The Milwaukee Police Department does not explain or provide a rationale for this policy exception. After reading the entire list of policy exceptions, I am hard-pressed to find any situation involving the issuance of a worthless check that wouldn't fall under one of the twenty exceptions. Apparently, the Milwaukee Police Department is not interested in pursuing individuals who pass worthless checks in general and, specifically, the MPD will not pursue tenants who pass them to their landlords.

This means it is more important than ever that City of Milwaukee landlords and/or property managers conduct thorough, legal background checks on all prospective tenants to increase their odds of securing trustworthy, responsible tenants. Second, landlords may want to add language to their standard rental agreements stating that all rental and security deposit payments must be made via certified funds (i.e., certified check/cashier's check or money order). Third, City of Milwaukee landlords now have another reason not to allow tenants who have fallen behind on rent to continue living in their properties.

To protect themselves and their properties, landlords or their managers should consider commencing an eviction against a tenant as soon as the tenant is one month late on rent. If landlords continue to allow tenants to get further behind in rent payments and continue to accept promises of future payments from such tenants, landlords will increase the chances that the promised past-due rent payments will be made via worthless checks -- and now landlords will receive absolutely no assistance from the Milwaukee Police Department when trying to recover these funds from their tenants.

NEW PUBLISHED CASE ON EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE STAYS

We will soon have a published Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision on emergency assistance stays in eviction actions that will help us, as landlords, remove 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 the court determines whether the tenant is eligible for assistance and, if so, until the tenant receives it. For those of you who have been in this situation, you know this stay can cause substantial hardship for the landlord, who is now required to allow a tenant to remain in his/her property for free. Even if the tenant is eventually awarded emergency assistance, it typically does not cover the full amount of past-due rent owed; as a result, the landlord declines the money and asks for his/her writ. The tenant then uses the assistance money for the security deposit on their next apartment.

This stay can delay an eviction for months. Such a situation is frustrating at best and, at worst, an improper "taking" of a landlord's property. In the case of McQuestion v. Crawford (Appeal No. 2008AP1096) from District I (Milwaukee) of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, it was held that "implicit in the statute's mandate that a stay is required until the tenant receives the emergency assistance is a requirement that the tenant seek and find suitable permanent housing within a reasonable period of time."

A judge will still need to determine what is a "reasonable" amount of time on a case-by-case basis, but at least there will now be required inquiry into the tenant's efforts to locate new housing and consideration of how long it takes. Wisconsin landlords now have case law to support our arguments that the length of the stay is no longer reasonable.

TIME TO REVIEW YOUR RENTAL DOCUMENTS

With the new year already upon us, I encourage all property owners and managers to review their current rental documents so they can make any needed changes before accepting new applicants. Below are some questions and ideas to help with your review.

Is the rent you charge your current tenants in line with what other similar properties rent for in the same neighborhood? If your monthly rental price is "under market," consider increasing your rent. Have your business costs increased over the past year? If so, you have another reason to increase your rent, as long as the rental market where your property is located can accommodate it.

Does your residential lease include an automatic renewal clause that renews at the end of the term, or reverts to a month-to-month tenancy? If so, make sure you want an automatic renewal or reversion. Many landlords now opt for lease agreements to end at the end of the term. By doing so, the owner or manager can review the tenant's behavior and payment history over the past year and decide whether to keep the tenant for the next year. Owners using automatic renewal provisions in their leases must also provide written notice of that renewal to the tenant for the provision to be enforceable.

In light of your interactions (both good and bad) with your tenants this past year, do you need to add any additional restrictions to your Rules and Regulations? If you have encountered any problem behaviors from your tenants this past year, then consider amending your Rules & Regulations to include a new provision addressing the unwanted behavior.

Has your written screening criteria changed during the preceding year? If so, you will need to update your screening criteria, note the changes made, and do so in writing. Be sure to save your old screening criteria and also record the date when you stopped using it. Remember, having written screening criteria and applying them consistently is the #1 defense against any discrimination/Fair Housing complaints.

Have you incurred any additional costs or fees this past year (other than "normal wear and tear" to your property) that you would like to pass on to your tenants? If so, consider adding these costs to your Nonstandard Rental Provisions. By adding the new charges or fees to your NSRP, reviewing them with your tenants, and obtaining their signatures on the NSRP, you can legally deduct these charges from your tenant's security deposit if needed.

Are you utilizing the Disclosure of Information on Lead-Based Paint and/or Lead-Based Paint Hazards form? Did you provide a copy of this important document along with a copy of the E.P.A.'s free pamphlet entitled "Protect Your Family From Lead In Your Home" to all of your new tenants this past year? If you are not providing these two documents to all tenants in any of your pre-1978 properties, you are violating federal law and may be subject to large fines, regardless of whether anyone develops lead poisoning.

LLCs MUST FILE ANNUAL REPORT WITH DFI

Effective January 1, 2004, all domestic Limited Liability Companies must file an Annual Report with the Department of Financial Institutions (DFI).

The report is due during the anniversary quarter of the LLC's effective date of organization on record with DFI. DFI will send the report to the registered agent at the registered office of record. The Annual Report is fairly simple to complete and requires only one page of information. The requested information includes the registered agent's name and contact information, the office address, the name and contact information of any LLC managers (if applicable), and a brief description of the company's business.

You may submit the report online through the DFI website or via the mail. If you file online, you will receive a free copy of the filed report via email. Also, if you file online, your next year's report will be pre-filled with the information that you submitted the previous year.

"Here's the rub": each report has a $25 filing fee. That means you'll pay the state $25 per year for each of your domestic LLCs. Visa and MasterCard credit cards are accepted, but debit cards are not. If paying by check, your check should be made payable to "Department of Financial Institutions" and should be mailed to:

Department of Financial Institutions

P.O. Box 93739

Milwaukee, WI 53293-0739

If any domestic LLC fails to file this mandatory report on time, the DFI may administratively dissolve the LLC.

IMPORTANT WEBSITES TO ASSIST WITH SCREENING TENANTS

As I mentioned before, the screening process is, in my opinion, the most important part of the rental process. The landlord should spend sufficient time trying to ensure the chosen tenant can live up to and abide by the rental agreement.

Below are some websites I find very helpful when screening my tenants.

CCAP - Wisconsin's Consolidated Court Automation Program - This free tool lets you access all state court filings in Wisconsin, except paternity lawsuits and juvenile delinquency petitions. It includes criminal lawsuits; civil lawsuits (including eviction actions); divorces; harassment injunctions; replevins (repossession of vehicles); foreclosures; money judgments; etc.

Milwaukee Municipal Court Case Information System (MMCCIS) - This free website lets you enter a person's name to see whether they have received any municipal tickets in the City of Milwaukee for things like possession of drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia, battery, traffic violations, etc. Note that receiving a municipal ticket is not the same as being charged with a crime. Municipal tickets are just civil forfeitures (fines).

Family Watchdog - This free website lets you search for convicted sex offenders throughout the United States by name or location.

Wisconsin's Sex Offender Registry - Run by Wisconsin's Department of Corrections, this free website lets you search by name or location to determine whether a person has been convicted as a sex offender in the state.

PACER - Bankruptcy filings in the Eastern District of Wisconsin - This website lets you search (for a nominal cost) to determine whether a person has ever filed for bankruptcy in the Eastern District (including Milwaukee) of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions - This free website helps commercial landlords check the status of a prospective tenant that is a business entity (LLC, SC, INC, LP, etc.). It lets you search its database and tells you whether the entity exists, who its registered agent is, their address, and whether the business entity is delinquent in its state filings.

Landlord Services, LLC - This company, based in Green Bay, is endorsed by the Apartment Association of Wisconsin (AASEW) and will run credit and criminal background checks on your rental applicants.

City of Milwaukee Property Recording Data and Department of Neighborhood Services Property Recording - Both sites let you enter an address and find out who owns the property. This is especially useful when screening applicants, and you want to verify that their prior landlord is really their prior landlord, not a family member or friend who will tell you what a great tenant they are.

SSN Validator: This site lets you enter a Social Security number and provides basic information, such as whether the SSN was issued, the approximate issue date, the issuing state, and whether the person it was issued to is deceased. This information will help you determine whether the SSN an applicant lists on your rental application is legitimate. Use of this site is free.

SCREENING PROSPECTIVE TENANTS

UPDATE - APRIL 15, 2016 ---- Please review my April 15, 2016 blog post on HUD's new guidance on considering a rental applicant's criminal history in the screening process, as it may affect or change the information in this blog post.

Screening prospective tenants is the most important part of the rental process, whether you are renting residential or commercial property. If done properly, screening can save a landlord time, money, and headaches. Setting up a proper and legal screening process, which includes the drafting of a Rental Application and written Screening Criteria, can help reduce the need to evict a tenant, defend yourself against a claim that you violated the Wisconsin Administrative Code's Residential Rental Practices (ATCP 134), defend yourself against a claim for discrimination under the Fair Housing laws, and preserve your property from physical damage.

A good screening process has several steps. First, verify that the applicant is who they say they are. The best way to do this is to require each adult applicant to complete a rental application in full. Also ask each adult to provide a valid photo ID. Also request a copy of the applicant's prior utility or cable bill. Ensure the address on the bills matches the address on the photo ID and the rental application. Also obtain the applicant's date of birth and Social Security number. Require them to provide any prior names they have used in the past few years, such as maiden names if they were recently married, or married names if they were recently divorced. If you are renting to a business entity, verify its existence with the Secretary of State's Department of Financial Institutions. Getting this information early will greatly help you later in the screening process.

Second, establish written screening criteria before you start accepting rental applications, and apply them consistently. Your criteria should set forth the minimum requirements needed to rent your property, as well as what will cause an applicant to be denied. You can provide the written screening criteria to each prospective applicant with the application, or, at a minimum, memorialize the criteria in writing, date it, and keep it for at least 3 years. Remember: if you make an exception to your screening criteria for one applicant, you lose the protection of having the criteria in the first place, so avoid making exceptions.

Your screening criteria should not be subjective. Rejecting an applicant because they give you a "bad feeling" or because you did not "connect" with them will only run you afoul of Fair Housing laws. Your criteria need to be objective. Federal law protects seven (7) classes, and Wisconsin law protects twelve (12). You may not deny an applicant because they are a member of any of the following protected classes in Wisconsin: race, color, national origin, sex, religion, familial status, handicap, marital status, sexual orientation, lawful source of income, ancestry, and age (18 years old and over). Some local municipalities (the city of Madison comes to mind) have added additional protected classes. So it is important to check all local ordinances where your rental properties are located prior to drafting your screening criteria.

A common misconception is that you cannot reject an applicant because they smoke, have a money judgment against them, or were previously evicted. Smokers, debtors, and people with past evictions are not members of a protected class and therefore legal screening criteria can exclude them without violating Wisconsin or federal discrimination laws. Other examples of proper screening criteria include the following: (1) Applicant must have monthly income of 3 times the monthly rental amount; (2) Applicant must have no unsatisfied money judgments against them; (3) Applicant must have a credit score of at least 600; (4) Applicant must complete all questions on the rental application; failure to answer all questions or provide an acceptable reason for not answering all questions is grounds for denial of your application.

Third, you should run every applicant's name through Wisconsin's Consolidated Court Automation Program (CCAP). This website lists all criminal and civil legal actions filed throughout the state. By becoming adept with CCAP's search capabilities, you will be able to discover if a prior landlord has started an eviction action against your applicant, if your applicant has ever been charged with a crime, or if they have been sued for owing money to someone and whether or not they have satisfied that judgment. Best of all, CCAP is free and open to the public.

Fourth, you should obtain a credit check for an applicant that is still under consideration after checking CCAP. A landlord may require the applicant to pay the actual cost of the credit check up to $20 if they so wish. In order to charge this fee, however, you must obtain the credit report from a consumer reporting agency that compiles and maintains files on consumers on a nationwide basis (TransUnion, Experian, or Equifax), and you must notify the applicant of the cost before ordering the report and provide them with a copy after it is received.

These four steps for screening and qualifying a prospective applicant for your rental property are the bare minimum to protect your investment.

UPDATE - APRIL 15, 2016 ---- Please review my April 15, 2016 blog post on HUD's new guidance regarding the consideration of a rental applicant's criminal history in the screening process, as it may impact or alter the information in this blog post.

ATCP 134 - RESIDENTIAL RENTAL PRACTICES

If you are a landlord, are you familiar with ATCP 134? If not, you definitely need to be. ATCP 134 is a chapter of the Wisconsin Administrative Code that applies to residential rental practices. Although these rules were updated in 1998, many well-intentioned landlords still don't know their provisions or the serious consequences that can result if you fail to follow them.

The most overlooked, and most litigated, rule is ATCP 134.06(2), which governs the return of a tenant's security deposit. This rule states that a landlord shall return a tenant's security deposit within 21 days after the tenant surrenders the premises. This applies whenever the tenant leaves your unit, whether at the end of the rental period or as a result of eviction.

If the tenant damaged the premises or owes back rent, you may deduct those amounts from the tenant's security deposit; however, you must still send the 21-day letter showing the itemized deductions. You must send the security deposit and/or 21-day letter to the tenant's forwarding address or, if that was not provided, to the tenant’s last known address.

The consequences for a landlord who fails to follow these rules are severe. Together, ATCP 134 and the Wisconsin Statutes allow a tenant to sue a landlord who fails to return the security deposit or mail the 21-day letter to the tenant within the 21-day time period, for double the amount of the security deposit, together with the costs of the lawsuit and the tenant's reasonable attorney's fees. Yes, that is correct: the same tenant you were forced to evict for failing to pay rent or for disturbing neighbors by playing music too loudly can now come back and sue you. Adding insult to injury, besides receiving a damages judgment against you, the landlord, you will also have to pay the fees of the lawyer your ex-tenant hired to sue you.

If you are a landlord and are unaware of the residential practice rule above or unfamiliar with ATCP 134 in general, I urge you to become knowledgeable before you get mired in such a situation.

Welcome to Tristan's Landlord-Tenant Law Blog

Welcome. My name is Tristan Pettit, and I am an attorney with Petrie & Stocking S.C. One of my areas of focus is landlord-tenant law. I am also the current President of the Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin (AASEW). I have practiced landlord-tenant law for over 13 years. I appear in eviction court several times per month in various counties. I also give seminars on all aspects of landlord-tenant law to landlords, property managers, and others affiliated with the rental housing industry, including other lawyers. Needless to say, I enjoy the exciting (and often frustrating) area of landlord-tenant law.

One day, I searched the internet for a landlord-tenant law website or blog in Wisconsin to connect with others in the industry. I was surprised to find only one Wisconsin blog that even touched on the topic (Dr. Rent Chronicles from the Wausau area). I expanded my search a bit, hoping to find some L-T law blogs outside Wisconsin; I found fewer than a handful, and none seemed to cover the nuts and bolts of landlord-tenant law. While tons of blogs and websites focus on real estate law, I believe landlord-tenant law is a specific sub-category of general real estate law and deserves its own voice. This lack of a forum for landlords and others in the rental housing industry led to the creation of Tristan's Landlord Tenant Law Blog.

It is amazing to learn how many landlords there are just in the Milwaukee area alone. You have the reluctant landlords, those who bought a new home and, because of the poor economy, couldn't sell their existing home and were forced to rent it out. You have the rehabbers, who bought a property that needed work, hoped to fix it up and sell it, only to find that in this poor real estate economy there were too many properties and not enough buyers. Then you have the intentional landlords, those crazy individuals who enjoy chasing down rent money at all hours of the night and taking calls on weekends and holidays about clogged toilets and broken water heaters. I hope this blog offers something to intentional landlords, reluctant landlords, and others involved in the rental housing industry.

Landlord-tenant law can be confusing at best and downright contradictory at worst. Statutes, administrative code provisions, and case law all must be read, digested, and applied to the specific facts of your situation. Add to that that every county in Wisconsin has its own local rules for its court system, which often differ from other counties. Further complicating matters, even within the same county, judges and court commissioners interpret the law differently, often resulting in very different outcomes.

In my opinion, Wisconsin is a very tenant-friendly state. One need only look to the Wisconsin Administrative Code chapter entitled "Residential Rental Practices" (ATCP 134) to see that. ATCP 134 contains twenty-one rules that landlords must follow. Failing to follow these rules can expose the landlord to a lawsuit for double damages and require payment of the tenant's attorney's fees. Needless to say, no such rules set forth similar requirements for tenants.

I plan to discuss all aspects of landlord tenant law in this blog including: screening tenants, rental documents, Notices for Breach and/or Terminating Tenancy, ATCP 134, evictions, collections of money owed, security deposits, Fair Housing laws (discrimination), rent abatement, abandoned property, late fees and much more.

Because Wisconsin is such a tenant-friendly state, landlords, owners, and managers need to have a firm grasp of landlord-tenant law. I sincerely hope this blog will serve as a forum for those involved in the rental industry to learn, discuss, argue (politely), and interact with each other. To do that, I will need your support, readership, comments, and involvement. I hope Tristan's Landlord-Tenant Law Blog becomes a place where we can exchange ideas, answer questions, blow off some steam, make connections, and generally have fun.

Thanks

T