Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog
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Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog
Archive of: Screening Tenants
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CCAP 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 MoreYou Will Not Want To Miss AASEW's Fourth Annual Landlord Boot Camp on Saturday Feb. 25th
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Tenant Damage, Credit Checks, AASEW, Lead-Based Paint, Fair Housing / Discrimination, Protected Classes, Evictions, Late Fees, Notices, Collections, Emergency Assistance, City of Milwaukee, Screening Tenants, Rental Agreements, Rental Documents, Seminars, Pets, Security Deposit, Milwaukee County, Property Management, Mitigation of Damages / Re-Renting, Untenantability, Execution of Writ, State of Wisconsin, Self-Help Evictions, Right of Entry, Reasonable Modifications, Reasonable Accommodations, Rejecting Rental Applicants, Walkthroughs, De Novo Hearings, Earnest Money, Landlord Liability, Small Claims Court, Holdover Damages, Roommates, Smoke Detectors / Comments
Landlording can be pretty complex, with a seemingly never ending myriad of paperwork, rules, landlord-tenant laws and simple mistakes that can cost you thousands of dollars.The Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin's Fourth Annual “Landlord Boot Camp” can help you navigate these treacherous waters and teach you how to run your properties with greater profit and less hassles.I have given similar landlord-tenant law seminars to fellow attorneys, landlords, and property manager ...
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 ...
Read MoreFree Landlord-Tenant Law Seminar In West Allis on March 31, 2011
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Screening Tenants, Rental Agreements, Rental Documents, Seminars / Comments
I will be presenting a seminar for the West Allis Landlord Training Program on Thursday, March 31, 2011 from 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm. This seminar is sponsored by the West Allis Police Department and is open to the public at no cost.I will be speaking on two specific areas:1. Rental Documents -- specifically what rental documents you should be using with your tenants to protect yourself such as:
Read MoreRejecting A Rental Applicant: The Do's and Dont's
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Screening Tenants, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Rejecting Rental Applicants / Comments
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.Let's face it, most landlords would prefer to never have to reject a rental applicant. It would be great if every application that we received from ...
Read MoreThe Topic of CCAP Restriction Is Back!
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Screening Tenants, CCAP, Rep. Marlin Schneider / Comments
As the followers of my blog well know, many of my posts have centered on State. Rep. Marlin Schneider's attempts to restrict CCAP access to the public. Restriction of CCAP will greatly affect landlords as CCAP is one of the best avenues to conduct background checks on prospective tenants. Here is a link to my prior posts on this topic.Well, Rep. Schneider and his Special Commottee On Review of ...
Read MoreState Supreme Court To Jump Into The Debate Over Restricting Information on CCAP
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Screening Tenants, CCAP, Rep. Marlin Schneider / Comments
The Journal Sentinel published an article on Saturday, March 13, 2010 entitled "Supreme Court Considers Limits To Online Court Records." It appears that while landlords have pretty much quashed Rep. Schneiders attempts to pass legislation on the restriction of infromation posted on CCAP, that the State Supreme Court will be reviewing the issue in the near future.Patrick Marley's article states that Rep. Schneider did not believe his CCAP ...
Read MoreRep. Marlin Schneider Amends AB-340 (CCAP Bill)
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in AASEW, Legislation, Screening Tenants, CCAP, Rep. Marlin Schneider / Comments
On December 2, 2009, Rep. Marlin Schneider (D-Wisconsin Rapids) made an amendment to AB-340. Referred to as Assembly Substitute Amendment 1 to 2009 AB 340, this revised bill essentially would create two versions of the CCAP database. Schneider's amendment appears to be -- based on its timing at least -- a partial response to the Apartment Association of SE Wisconsin's critical response to a memo that Schneider sent to other members of the Wisconsin ...
Read MoreWhat Questions Should You Ask An Applicant's Current and/or Prior Landlord During The Screening Process
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Screening Tenants / Comments
Screening applicants/potential tenants is the single most important element of landlording in my opinion. As I have mentioned in prior posts, if you properly screen your applicants you will have a better chance of finding a good tenant that pays rent on time and does not abuse your investment property.Landlords should require each adult person to completely fill out a written rental application. After you have all this good information about your applicant you now need to confirm that info. ...
Read MoreHow To Really "Read" A Person's Drivers License
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Screening Tenants / Comments
I always enjoy learning information that will assist my clients and myself when screening potential new tenants. Based on my review of the Analytics for my blog, readers also appreciate this info because my post on the Social Security Number Validator consistently ranks as one of the most viewed posts each month.While co-presenting at the City of Milwaukee and UWM's Landlord Training Program this past October I learned that a person's drivers license ...
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