Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog
Call us: (414) 276-2850
Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog
Archive of: Legislation
A Summary of Landlord-Tenant Bills That Some In Madison Are Hoping to Get Passed in 2024
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Legislation / Comments
Below is a summary of the many Landlord-Tenant law bills that were drafted in late 2023 and are hoping to move forward in 2024. You will note that many of these bills are trying to undue the many laws that were passed between 2012-2018 (i.e., Act 143, Act 76, Act 176, and Act 317). Whether or not these bills have any real possibility to become law now, it is clear that there ...
Read MoreProposed Anti-Landlord Legislation Being Shopped Around Seeking Co-Sponsors
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Legislation / Comments
Yesterday was a busy day for those legislators that are not fans of landlords or what we do as a profession. As if the rampant sealing of eviction records that is prevalent in Milwaukee County was not bad enough (so that future landlords will not be aware that an applicant had a recent eviction), below is a list of proposed legislation from Madison that is being passed around by the ...
Read MoreMilwaukee Common Council Approves Legislation Requiring Lead-Safe Certification Before a Property can Be Rented To Public
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Lead-Based Paint, Legislation, City of Milwaukee / Comments
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 ...
Read MoreNew Landlord-Tenant Law - Act 317 - Is Effective on April 18, 2018.
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Legislation, Act 317 / Comments
On April 16, 2018 Governor Walker signed into law 2017 Wisconsin Act 317 which is Wisconsin's newest Landlord-Tenant law. The law was published yesterday, April 17th, which means that it will become effective tomorrow, April 18, 2018.It is a very large law -- 8 1/2 pages long -- too much for me to cover in this post. I have chosen to focus on the portions of the law ...
Read MoreMilwaukee County Proposes A New Protected Class in Housing - "Receipt of Rental or Housing Assistance"
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Fair Housing / Discrimination, Legislation, Protected Classes, Milwaukee County / Comments
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 ...
Read MoreNew Landlord-Tenant Law Legislation - Wisconsin's Affordable Rental Housing Act of 2017
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Legislation / Comments
There are currently two bills in Madison that will significantly impact Landlord-Tenant Law in Wisconsin. 2017 Senate Bill 639 (SB 639) and 2017 Assembly Bill 771 (AB 771) ("bill") are referred to as the Wisconsin's Affordable Rental Housing Act of 2017 and are sponsored by Senator Frank Lasee and Representative Robert Brooks.The 20-page bill address many issues including historic preservation, rental inspections, rental inspection fees, notice of eviction ...
Read MoreMilwaukee County Board Considering Ordinance on Rent Abatment
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Legislation, Abatement / Comments
An important message for the Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin: The Milwaukee County Board is considering a proposal that would permit your tenants to abate rent for maintenance issues not addressed within 24 hours.For example, your tenant calls on Friday morning to say the bathroom faucet is not working correctly. You go out and fix it on Sunday, 50 hours after the call came in. This proposal ...
Read MoreACT 176: Governor Signs New Landlord-Tenant Bill Into Law
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Legislation, Act 176 / Comments
On Monday, February 29, 2016 Governor Scott Walker signed a new landlord-tenant law bill into law. The new law entitled 2015 Wisconsin Act 176 ("Act 176") was published on March 1, 2016 and went into effect the following day - Mach 2, 2016 - which means I am late in drafting this blog post since the new law is almost 1 week old already.The passage of Act ...
Read MoreLandlords Lose Lawsuit Against City of LaCrosse
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Legislation, Act 76 (SB 179) / Comments
On August 27, 2014, a LaCrosse County judge ruled against several LaCrosse landlords that had sued the city over its local rental registry and inspection ordinance.The plaintiffs included 34 landlords with rental property in the city of LaCrosse and attacked the cities ordinance on both constitutional grounds as well as arguing that the ordinance violated state law, specifically Act 76, which became law on March 1, 2014. To learn ...
Read MoreSecond Lawsuit Filed Alleging Local Ordinance Violates Wisconsin's New Landlord Tenant Law (Act 76)
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Legislation, Act 76 (SB 179) / Comments
I just read in the Wausau Daily Herald today that a second legal challenge has been filed based on Wisconsin's new landlord-tenant law (Act 76). The city of Wausau is getting sued by several local landlords over its Residential Rental Licensing Ordinance which requires that rentals be inspected every three years for compliance with the city's local building codes.One of the arguments in the lawsuit is that the ...
Read More
