Milwaukee County Orders Emergency Temporary Orders Closing Eviction Court Due to COVID-19 Pandemic.

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Evictions, COVID-19 / Comments

Well this has certainly been an “interesting” few days . . . and I assume that it will continue for the unknown future.  I know that I have seen more empty store shelves devoid of toilet tissue, Kleenex, and paper towels than I ever have before.  I’m sure that you have all been inundated with emails from your bank, vet, accountant, favorite restaurant and more, about COVID-19 and what changes are being made by those businesses in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the pandemic.  Well you can consider this blog post to be your email from your friendly Landlord-Tenant Law Attorney.

Effective today, March 16th, the Chief Judge in Milwaukee County ordered that all small claims court appearances, which include evictions, are suspended until after April 3, 2020, or until further Order of the Court.  Any court dates scheduled prior to April 3, 2020 will be rescheduled by the clerk and written notice will be sent out to the parties.

The Order goes on to say that no one may appear in person for any small claims hearing between now and April 3, 2020 or until further Order of the Court, unless it is an emergency matter, which has been approved by the judge or court commissioner.  The Court’s Guidance memo states that an emergency matter would be limited to such things as a Tenant’s request for stays of writs.

I have learned that the filing of an affidavit of default on a Stipulated Dismissal of an Eviction, when the tenant does not follow through on what they agreed to, is NOT considered to be an “emergency matter.”

Here is a copy of the Order and the attached guidelines for your review.

What does this mean to a landlord needing to file an eviction?

Well, while you are not precluded from drafting and serving notices terminating a tenancy and you are not precluded from drafting and serving an eviction lawsuit there are some practical matters with regard to the service of the eviction that may pose some concerns.

Wisconsin eviction law states that in eviction actions, the return date for a summons served upon a resident of Wisconsin shall be not less than 5 days nor more than than 25 days from the issue date, and service shall be made not less than 5 days prior to the return date. Wis. Stat. § 799.05(3)(b).

Most likely this pandemic and the restrictions enacted as a result will get worse before they get better.  I anticipate that the Emergency Temporary closure of the courts will be extended beyond April 3^rd.  While I hope that I am wrong, I don’t think that I will be.

So let’s say that you plan on filing your eviction within the next 3 weeks and set the return date for April 6^th for instance, what will happen if the court extends the closure until April 15^th or April 30^th?  Well, should the Court end up extending the Emergency Temporary Orders the Court it will have to adjourn your return date until whenever the Emergency Orders might be terminated.  Since we have no crystal ball, neither you nor I know when that will be.  Likely, if that happens, you will need to file an Amended Eviction Summons and reserve it so as to comply with the service requirements of Wis. Stat. § 799.05(3)(b) set forth above.  The result being that you would incur another service of process fee and your eviction would not get into court any sooner..

As I see it, a landlord or property manager has one of three options.  The first option is to file the eviction prior to April 3, 2020 and hope that they Emergency Orders are not extended, but if they are you will need to be prepared to file an Amended Summons and incur another service fee.  The second option would be to hold off on filing the eviction until the Emergency Temporary Orders have ended, whenever that will be.  The third option is to try and informally work with your tenant to come up with a resolution that works for both of you.

None of the options are ideal.  Whether or not a tenant pays their rent doesn’t affect the landlord’s obligation to pay its mortgage.  And if the tenant is engaging in a non-rent breach that is affecting the quiet use and enjoyment of the premises by other tenants, any further delay is certainly not a good option for the landlord or the other tenants.  Can you and the tenant arrive at a solution that works for both of you until the pandemic ends and the courts reopen?  I don’t know the answer to this question, but it appears that we are entering a brave new world, and we will need to be creative in order to survive.

Good luck and stay healthy.

T