Miscellaneous landlord-tenant provisions and prohibiting a local government from imposing a moratorium on eviction actions

Current law allows the tenant or any person with a security interest in the property to redeem the property before the landlord disposes of it or enters into a contract for its disposal by paying the landlord's costs for removal, storage, disposition, and arranging for the sale, of the property.

The bill eliminates the procedures under current law for disposing of personal property that a tenant leaves behind and provides that, in the absence of a written agreement to the contrary between the landlord and tenant, the landlord may presume that the personal property has been abandoned and may dispose of it in any manner that the landlord determines is appropriate. The tenant is responsible for any costs that the landlord incurs with respect to the property's disposal. If the landlord sells the property, the landlord may send the proceeds, minus any costs of sale and storage, to DOA for use in providing grants to homeless shelters. As under current law, the tenant or a secured party, however, may redeem the property before the landlord disposes of the property, or enters into a contract for its disposal, by paying all charges that the landlord has incurred with respect to the disposal.

2. Currently, what a landlord may deduct from a tenant's security deposit when the tenant vacates the premises is specified, not in the statutes, but in the Wisconsin Administrative Code (Code). The bill incorporates the Code provisions into the statutes and thus provides that a landlord may deduct amounts from a security deposit for tenant damage to the premises, unpaid rent, unpaid utility services for which the tenant was responsible, any unpaid monthly municipal permit fees, and any other reason provided in a nonstandard rental provision to which the tenant has agreed. A landlord specifically may not deduct amounts from a security deposit for normal wear and tear.

The bill also provides that, if a tenant removes from the premises before the end of his or her lease term, the landlord must return the tenant's security deposit within 21 days after the end of the lease term or, if the landlord rerents the premises before the end of that lease term, within 21 days after the new tenant's tenancy begins.

3. The bill requires a landlord to provide to a new tenant a standardized information check-in sheet with an itemized description of the condition of the premises at the time of the tenant's check-in. In addition, a landlord must disclose to a prospective tenant any uncorrected building code violation: 1) that affects the prospective tenant's dwelling unit or a common area of the premises; 2) for which the landlord has received notice from a local housing code enforcement agency; and 3) for which the date for correction is past due.

4. The bill requires a tenant to notify the landlord in writing of any repair or maintenance that the premises requires before reporting the problem to a building inspector, elected public official, or local housing code enforcement agency.

5. Current law provides that a rental agreement is void and unenforceable if it allows a landlord to take various actions, such as increasing rent or refusing to renew a rental agreement, because the tenant has contacted an entity for law enforcement services, health services, or safety services. The bill changes this to provide that, rather than the entire rental agreement being void and unenforceable, any provision in a rental agreement that allows a landlord to take the specified actions is void and unenforceable. The bill also provides generally that provisions in rental agreements are severable and that the invalidity or unenforceability of any provision does not affect the other provisions that can be given effect without the invalid provision.

6. Under current law, if a tenant does not remove from the premises after his or her lease has expired or his or her tenancy has been terminated, such as for nonpayment of rent, the landlord may recover damages from the tenant for the tenant's failure to vacate. The statute provides that the landlord may recover as minimum damages twice the rental value of the premises for the time that the tenant remained in possession if the landlord does not prove that he or she suffered greater damages. The bill provides that the landlord, at the landlord's discretion, shall recover damages for the tenant's failure to vacate. The amount of the damages shall be, at a minimum, twice the rental value of the premises for the time that the tenant remained in possession, in the absence of proof of greater damages. The bill also clarifies that the landlord may seek and recover any other damages to which the landlord may be entitled.

7. The bill provides that, if a landlord commences an eviction action against a tenant whose tenancy was terminated for nonpayment of rent and the landlord accepts past due rent from the tenant, the eviction action may not be dismissed solely because of the acceptance of the rent.

8. The bill also prohibits any city, village, town, or county from enacting an ordinance, or enforcing an existing ordinance, that imposes a moratorium on a landlord from pursuing an eviction action against a tenant of the landlord's residential or commercial property.