Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog
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Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog
Archive of: Legislation
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Landlord's Omnibus Bill -- with Amendments -- To Be Signed Into Law Today
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in ATCP 134, Legislation, Rental Agreements, Rental Documents, State of Wisconsin, Act 143 (Landlord's Omnibus Law) / Comments
One of the biggest pieces of pro-Landlord legislation in quite some time was passed by the Wisconsin Senate and adopted by the Assembly recently and will be signed into law by Governor Walker today. Unfortunately some of the pro-Landlord provisions were amended, diluted, or removed.I am certainly not denouncing this new law. Many aspects of it will be very helpful to landlords. I just wish that more time had been allowed -- ...
Read MoreNew Landlords' Omnibus Bill Being Debated In Madison
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Legislation, Act 143 (Landlord's Omnibus Law) / Comments
On February 13, 2012 2011 Senate Bill 466 (more commonly referred to as the Landlords' Omnibus Bill) was introduced by Senator Lasee and referred to the Committee on Insurance and Housing. A companion bill was also introduced in the Assembly - 2011 AB 561. A public hearing on the above bills was held on February 15, 2012.The Landlords' Omnibus Bill addresses numerous issues affecting landlord-tenant relations in ...
Read MoreHUD Issues New Rule On "Discriminatory Effect" a.k.a Disparate Impact
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in AASEW, Fair Housing / Discrimination, Legislation, Protected Classes, Screening Tenants / Comments
HUD has issued a new Fair Housing “disparate impact” rule that may cause problems for landlords during the screening process. The new rule creates a new provision entitled “Prohibiting Discriminatory Effects” which defines “discriminatory effect” as situations in which a facially neutral (i.e. not discriminatory) housing practice can become discriminatory if it actually or predictably has an effect on a group of persons that are members of a protected ...
Read MoreCCAP Committee's Recommendation To Change Wisconsin's Expungment Laws Shot Down
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Legislation, Screening Tenants, CCAP / Comments
Last year Wisconsin's Joint Legislative Council created a Special Committee On The Review of Records Access of Circuit Court Documents – what I affectionately referredto as the CCAP Committee. Landlords were very fortunate that in the end the committee made no recommendations to change or alter information on CCAP or limit its access by landlords or any other group. The committee's sole recommendation was to call for the ...
Read More"Landlord Preemption Bill" Signed Into Law
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Legislation / Comments
It is nice to finally see some landlord-friendly laws being passed in the state of Wisconsin.On December 7, 2011, Senate Bill 107 (commonly referred to as the “Landlord Preemption Bill”) was signed into law by Governor Scott Walker as 2011 Wisconsin Act 108. This new law creates Section 66.0104 of the Wisconsin Statutes and prohibits municipalities from enacting an ordinance that places certain limits or requirements on a landlord.Specifically, section ...
Read MoreGovernor Walker Signs 2 Pro-Landlord Bills Into Law
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Legislation, Attorney's Fees / Comments
Just wanted to let everone know that in the last few days Governor Walker has signed into law two bills that will positively affect landlords.- On December 7th, Governor Walker signed SB 107 (2011 Wisconsin Act 108) which relates to prohibiting municipalities from creating ordinances that put limits on landlords. If you would like more detail on this law please see my prior blog post on the topic. Here ...
Read MoreNew Federal Bill Would Add Two New Protected Classes To Federal Fair Housing Act
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Fair Housing / Discrimination, Legislation / Comments
On September 26, 2011 both chambers of the U.S. Congress introduced legislation that would extend housing discrimination laws to include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The HOME (Housing Opportunities Made Equal) Act was introduced by Sen. John Kerry and others. The bill would amend the Fair Housing Act to prohibit housing discrimination and intimidation on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.Wisconsin is one ...
Read MoreNew Bills Would Limit Tenant's Attorney's Fees When Suing Landlords
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in ATCP 134, Legislation, State of Wisconsin / Comments
There are two new proposed laws that if passed would limit the amount of attorney’s fees that could be awarded to a tenant that has sued his/her landlord for violation of ATCP 134 to 3 times the amount of compensatory damages in Wisconsin. The proposed legislation (Special Session Assembly Bill 12 & Special Session Senate Bill 12) was introduced by the committee on Senate Organization and the ...
Read MoreCrime-Free Lease Bill On The Horizon
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in AASEW, Legislation, Notices / Comments
On September 12, 2011, on behalf of the AASEW, I traveled to Madison to meet with the Wisconsin Rental Housing Coalition, several legislators’ aides, and an attorney from the Legislative Reference Bureau to assist in the review of and drafting of a new piece of legislation that will greatly affect residential landlords.Not yet a bill, this proposed legislation is referred to as LRB-2098/1 or informally as the “Crime-Free Lease bill.” Initiated ...
Read MoreUpdate on Landlord Pre-Emption Bill
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Legislation, Screening Tenants, State of Wisconsin, City of Madison / Comments
It has been awhile since I updated everyone on the pro-landlord legislation that is being addressed in Madison. Senate Bill 107 (SB 107) -- referred to as the Landlord Pre-Emption Bill -- has been passed by the Wisconsin Senate and is currently being reviewed by the House this term (AB 155).You may recall that SB 107 prohibits any municipality from enacting any ordinance that limits a ...
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