Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog
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Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog
Archive of: Short-Term Rentals
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With All of This Flood Damage Lately . . . Let's Talk About Untenantability
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Abatement, Untenantability / Comments
With all of the flood damage from the July 22, 2010 storms throughout SE Wisconsin, I have been receiving lots of questions asking what will cause a rental unit to become "untenantable" and if that happens what are a landlord's duties and a tenant's rights."Untenantable" basically means that a property is not fit for an occupant, is not in proper repair, and/or is not liveable. A rental property can become untenantable as a ...
Read MoreWhat Is This Mitigation of Damages Requirement That I Keep Hearing About?
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Mitigation of Damages / Re-Renting / Comments
Whether a tenant breaches his or her lease and is evicted, leaves after receiving the 5 day or 14 day notice, or skips out in the middle of the night with months remaining on the lease, a landlord has the responsibility to make reasonable efforts to mitigate the tenant's damage under Wisconsin law.Put quite simply - a landlord cannot just sit back and do nothing and expect to collect rent from the ...
Read MoreDon't Miss Next AASEW Town Hall Meeting on Monday, July 19th
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in AASEW / Comments
Have a question about landlord tenant law? Property management? Real estate investing/short sales? Then come to the AASEW General Membership meeting on Monday, July 19th, 7:00 p.m. at the Best Western Hotel, 1005 South Moorland Road in Brookfield. Attorney and AASEW President, Tristan Pettit, AASEW Director and Portfolio Director at StuartCo, Susan Ipsarides, and owner of Plan B Homebuyers & Tailwind Funding, Brian Meidam, will all be on hand to answer your questions and give ...
Read MoreWisconsin Supreme Court Rules Against Landlord in Maryland Arms Case and Chooses To Avoid Answering The Bigger Question
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Caselaw, Tenant Damage, Rental Agreements / Comments
The Wisconsin Supreme Court filed its opinion in this very important case on July 7, 2010. While the majority opinion ruled against the landlord it did not go so far as to say that a landlord and tenant could not allocate liability for damage (when neither party was negligent in causing the damage) in their rental agreement. If you would like to review the specific facts of the case and the ...
Read MoreBED BUGS: Everything That You Wanted To Know . . . and More
Posted by admin in AASEW, Bedbugs / Comments
If you have not heard -- bed bugs are making a comeback. Bed bugs are wreaking havoc on hotels, apartment complexes, and anywhere else where people congregate. I have even been told that 75% of all of the hotels in Las Vegas are infested with bed bugs - I don't know if that is true or not - but with the influx of people entering and exiting that city daily, it would ...
Read MoreCompiling a List of "Bad" Tenants - a/k/a "Blacklisting" - Can Cause A Landlord A World of Hurt
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Blacklisting, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act / Comments
Every so often it is suggested that landlords begin compiling a list of bad tenants to share with one another. This topic often arises after a landlord has been "burned" by a bad tenant that skipped out on a lease owing rent, caused severe damage to the landlord's rental property, or any number of other breaches of their rental agreement. It is argued that such a list could prevent other ...
Read MoreNew Law Limits Landlords From Pursuing A Deceased Tenant's Estate
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Legislation, Collections / Comments
Governor Doyle recently signed into law 2009 WI Act 323 which creates a new section to Chapter 704 of the Wisconsin Statutes regarding Landlord-Tenant Law.The new section 704.165, Wis. Stats., is entitled "Termination of Tenancy at Death of Tenant"Below is a summary of the new law:1. If a residential tenant dies and had a term lease, his/her tenancy will be terminated 60 days after the landlord learns of the ...
Read MoreLatest EPA Proposed Changes to "Renovate Right" Rules -- Deadline to Provide Feedback July 6th
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in AASEW, Lead-Based Paint, Remodeling / Renovation, Legislation / Comments
ALERT! The latest EPA proposal will require dust sampling and lab testing clearance on many small jobs. The EPA estimates $160 per room in testing cost. In WI testing can only be done by state certified risk assessors and the cost is about $240 per room. So a repair to a damaged door jamb could cost ten times as much as it does today, and many times more than that if ...
Read MoreAASEW's New "Mentor's Corner" to Debut on June 21st
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in AASEW, Property Management / Comments
At the next membership meeting of the Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin (AASEW), to be held on June 21, 2010, the AASEW will be debuting its new "Mentor's Corner" for all AASEW members.The "Mentor's Corner" will be held at 6:30 pm prior to the general meeting. The "Corner" will be staffed by one or more "seasoned" landlords who will be ready to answer your non-legal questions about any aspect ...
Read MoreUPCOMING SEMINAR - How Evictions Work: Rules for Landlords and Property Managers
Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Seminars / Comments
I will be presenting a seminar for the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM Milwaukee Chapter #13) on several landlord - tenant law related topics in the near futureTopics to be covered:1. Causes for Eviction2. Notices To Terminate Tenancy3. The Judicial Eviction ProcessThis seminar will be held on Thursday, June 17, 2010 from 9am - 10:30 am. Registration will start at 8:30 am.The seminar will be held at The Wisconsin ...
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