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Bills from the 2009–10 session

Assembly Bill 873

Liens by commercial real estate brokers

Topics: Lien, Mortgage, Real property: Agent, Register of deeds

Stopped in committee

It never got a ⁠, so it never came up for a vote. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Mar 19, 2010

  2. Committee, stopped here

    Stopped here. No public hearing was held.

  3. Assembly vote, not reached

  4. Senate vote, not reached

  5. Governor, not reached

  6. Law, not reached

Latest entry in the official record, Apr 28, 2010: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Financial Institutions. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

Read the bill

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What it would have done

Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

Currently, a real estate broker may obtain a lien against commercial real estate for the unpaid amount of the commission earned under a written commercial real estate listing contract, tenant representation agreement, or buyer agency agreement or for unpaid compensation earned under an agreement to lease or manage commercial real estate if the real estate broker complies with certain notice requirements and perfects the lien by filing the notice of the lien in the office of the register of deeds. The current definition of commercial real estate excludes real property containing eight or fewer dwelling units. The bill changes that definition to exclude real property that consists only of dwelling units used solely for residential purposes and that contains eight or fewer dwelling units.

Under current law, the real estate broker is required to file a written notice of intent to claim the lien with the register of deeds at least 30 days before the conveyance of the commercial real estate that is the subject of the listing contract or the buyer agency agreement or before the date on which the written lease or management agreement is entered. The lien is then perfected when the broker files the notice of lien with the register of deeds, which must be done three days before the date of the recording of the conveyance documents for the commercial real estate that is the subject of the listing contract or the buyer agency agreement, or 90 days after the broker earns the commission or compensation under the agreement.

Read the full summary

Under this bill, the requirement that the real estate broker file a notice of intent to claim the lien with the register of deeds is removed and replaced with a requirement that the real estate broker give written notification to the person owing the commission or compensation of the broker's authority to claim a lien if the commission or compensation is not paid. In addition, the bill requires that commercial real estate listing contracts, buyer agency agreements, tenant representation agreements, and agreements to lease or manage commercial real estate include a notice of the real estate broker's authority to claim a lien, and provides a form for the notice.

Currently, if there is a dispute regarding the amount of commission or compensation owed to a real estate broker, a recorded lien may be satisfied by the broker if the person owing the disputed amount pays 125 percent of the disputed amount into the trust account of the real estate broker or an attorney who does not represent any party to the dispute pending a written agreement by the parties or a court order. This bill also allows the payment to be made into the trust account of a mutually agreed-upon third party.

Under current law, the real estate broker's satisfaction of a lien must be filed with the register of deeds and the register of deeds is required to index the satisfaction under the name of the owner of the real estate and, if the register of deeds maintains a tract index, under the legal description of the real estate. The bill requires a satisfaction of a real estate broker's lien to be recorded with the register of deeds and to include information included in the lien document, but removes the indexing requirements.

The bill allows a person who has a claim under a real estate broker's lien to waive the lien in writing. The bill also requires a person who forecloses on a real estate broker's lien to follow the general real estate foreclosure procedures when applicable, and requires that all of the persons who have a recorded real estate broker's lien for the real estate that is the subject of the foreclosure be made parties to the foreclosure action.

Who's behind it

10 lawmakers are its ⁠. 6 are Democrats and 4 are Republicans.

6 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 16 names

Authors (10)

Signed on in support (6)

What happened

  1. Apr 28, 2010

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Mar 19, 2010

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Financial Institutions.

  3. Mar 19, 2010

    Introduced in the Assembly.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Mar 19, 2010 · Assembly

    Introduced by Representatives Richards, Hubler, Turner, Van Roy, Townsend, Smith, Gunderson, Petersen, Soletski and Molepske Jr.;Cosponsored by Senators Sullivan, Taylor, Plale, Jauch, Cowles and Darling

  2. Mar 19, 2010 · Assembly

    Read first time and referred to committee on Financial Institutions

  3. Apr 28, 2010 · Assembly

    Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

Terms on this page

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary

From the Wisconsin Legislature's official record, checked Sep 15, 2026. See the source

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1

More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis

More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor

More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor

More in the glossary