Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog
Fair Housing - Part 3: Legal Reasons To Deny A Rental Applicant
From reviewing the analytics program that works in conjunction with my blog, I have learned that my two prior posts on fair housing/discrimination issues peaked a lot of interest which resulted in them being two of my most read posts to date. My prior posts can be read here and here. As a result I have decided to add another post related to Fair Housing issues.When I give seminars on ...
Update On Who May Represent A LLC in Eviction Court: New Rules To Start September 1st
Those of you that have been following my blog are aware that Milwaukee County Small Claims Court has indicated that it will not allow non-attorneys to represent LLC's in court in the near future.My earlier posts on this topic can be read here and here.A fellow board member from the AASEW informed me today that one of the owner's of a property he manages was handed the notice that ...
Milwaukee's Chronic Nuisance Ordinance and It's Improper Use Against Landlords
The City of Milwaukee's Chronic Nuisance Ordinance (80-10) is a thorn in the side of many landlords. Essentially the ordinance says that if your property generates more than 3 calls for police service for "nuisance activities" within a 30 day period that the city will charge you for the costs associated with abating the alleged nuisance. Nuisance activities include the following: harassment, disorderly conduct, battery, indecent exposure, prostitution, ...
State's Budget Bill Amends Tenant Protection Act
On June 29, 2009 Governor Jim Doyle signed the 2009-11 state biennial budget bill into law. This law in part made modifications to the Tenant Protection Act (starts on page 108) which offers tenants certain protections during the foreclosure process. My earlier post on the Tenant Protection Act can be read here.Specifically, the state budget bill modified the current law related to tenant protections in foreclosure actions as follows:1. ADDED - ...
Milwaukee County to Post Notice on Who Can File and Appear in Court on Eviction Actions
A friend of mine who is an employee at the courthouse and does much work in small claims court, and more specifically eviction court, forwarded to my attention earlier today a copy of a notice that will soon be posted in Room 400 (Eviction Court) and Room 104 (Clerk of Courts) of the Milwaukee County Courthouse.The notice addresses the issues of who may sign an eviction summons and complaint and ...
AASEW's Response to Rep. Schneider's CCAP Legislation Can Be Found at www.DefeatAB340.org
For those of you that have been following my blog, you are well aware that State Rep. Marlin Schneider (D-Wisconsin Rapids) has introduced yet another bill attempting to restrict the public's access to CCAP. This new bill also will remove certain information from even being included on CCAP. My prior blogs on this topic can be read here, here and here.The Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin (AASEW), a collection of landlords ...
FAIR HOUSING - PART 2: Interesting Statistics from HUD's 2008 Annual Report
I was recently reviewing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Fiscal Year 2008 Annual Report on Fair Housing. Not exactly beach reading but then the weather here in Milwaukee isn’t exactly conducive to going to the beach.HUD and its various Fair Housing Assistance Programs (FHAP) agencies handle all complaints regarding discrimination related to the federal protected classes. To see a list if the 7 federal protected classes ...
FAIR HOUSING - PART 1: What Are The Protected Classes?
A large part of my law practice is meeting with and consulting with landlords and management companies with regard to how to avoid trouble. This would include assisting them with the drafting of rental documents and guiding them on the proper notice to use when terminating a tenancy. It also includes consulting with clients with regard to fair housing / discrimination issues.I enjoy this consulting work as it typically occurs ...
CCAP LEGISLATION INTRODUCED YESTERDAY
State Rep. Marlin Schneider has introduced his newest piece of legislation yesterday - Assembly Bill 340. Schneider's newest bill will once again interfere with a landlord's ability to properly screen his/her applicants through CCAP.First, AB-340 will require most users of CCAP to register and pay an annual fee. Second, It will also require you to inform an applicant if you denied them rental as a result of information you obtained from CCAP ...
Article and Video Regarding Recent Seminar On Advising and Defending Property Owners in Nuisance Actions
On May 7, 2009 I spoke at the State Bar of Wisconsin Annual Convention. I was asked to speak at the Government Lawyer Division's seminar that focused on the topic of neighborhoods and nuisance properties. Specifically I was asked to speak on advising and defending property owners that have nuisance properties.The State Bar recently published a nice article summarizing my seminar presentation which was published through its online Inside Track newsletter. ...
CCAP: SCREENING TOOL UNDER ATTACK, AGAIN!
I have had the opportunity to review the newly proposed legislation, authored by State. Representative Marlin Schneider (Wisconsin Rapids), that will affect landlords' use of CCAP when screening rental applicants. This legislation has not yet been officially introduced so there is no link to it available on the web. Currently Rep. Schneider is sending it around attempting to find others who are willing to co-sponsor it with him.First, the bill ...
REP. SCHNEIDER IS ATTACKING CCAP AGAIN
State Representative Marlin Schneider from Wisconsin Rapids is up to it again. I just received word that Marlin Schneider has circulated a proposed bill (LRB 2267/3) which would require users of the Consolidated Court Automation Program, better known as CCAP, to pay an annual fee to use this computerized open records management system.Even worse, Schneider's legislation proposes that no legal court proceeding be posted on CCAP until after there has ...
NEW SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE UPDATE
I would like to apologize to those of you who are subscribed to my blog for having to tolerate all of the recent problems related to my old subscription service - especially the multiple email notifications.Please be assured that I have chaged subscription services and this new service will send you no more than 1 email per day -- and if I don't revise or post a new blog entry that ...
ATCP 134: THE 7 DEADLY SINS - 7 PROHIBITED RENTAL PROVISIONS
04/16/15 - UPDATE - This blog post has been updated by a new blog post dated 04/16/15 and entitled THE 10 DEADLY SINS: 10 PROVISIONS THAT LANDLORDS ANNOT INCLUD IN THEIR WISCONSIN RESIDENTIAL RENTAL AGREEMENTDid you know that if you have an illegal provision in your rental agreement that the entire agreement may be unenforceable? Unfortunately this is true. In the case of Baierl v. McTaggart the Wisconsin ...
LEAD-BASED PAINT DISCLOSURE FORM: YOU MUST USE THIS DOCUMENT!
Just last week I read yet another article about an owner and its management company in California being threatened with a $330,000 fine for failure to give it's tenants a lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazard disclosure notice as required under federal law. Yes, that number is correct - $330,000 - I did not mistakenly add an extra 0 or two. That is $11,000 per violation for the 30 ...
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. ...
LATE FEES - PART 2: ATCP 134 REQUIREMENTS
Late fees are a necessary evil for landlords aw we often need some type of "hammer" to hold over the heads of tenants who pay rent late. With this post I want to provide you with some additional information on the requirements that must be met with regard to late fees as specified in ATCP 134 of the Wisconsin Administrative Code.A Bit of History:In the past - prior to ATCP ...
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 ...
ATCP 134 RULES ON CREDIT CHECK/REPORT FEES
ATCP 134 contains specific rules regarding when and how a landlord can charge a rental applicant for the cost of their credit report. As background, ATCP 134 is the chapter of the Administrative Code of Wisconsin that sets forth 21 requirements that Landlords must follow or else risk getting sued for double damages and attorney's fees by the applicant or tenant.The applicable portion of the rules regarding credit checks is ...
NEW RULES FOR LEAD-SAFE REMODELING GO INTO EFFECT IN 2010
New rules for remodeling of houses built before 1978 go into effect in April of 2010. As of April 22, 2010 any person or business that disturbs more than 6 square feet of interior surface that may contain lead-based paint or more than 20 square feet of exterior surface that may contain lead-based paint will be subject to the EPA's 2008 Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule.In the past a ...