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Bills from the 2025–26 session

Senate Bill 1063

Prohibiting landlords from charging application fees and credit checks and background checks obtained by landlords

Topics: Credit, Criminal identification and investigation, Landlord and tenant

Stopped in committee

It never got a ⁠, so it never came up for a vote. The last day for votes this session was Mar 19, 2026. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Feb 26, 2026

  2. Committee, stopped here

    Stopped here. No public hearing was held.

  3. Senate vote, not reached

  4. Assembly vote, not reached

  5. Governor, not reached

  6. Law, not reached

Latest entry in the official record, Mar 23, 2026: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Senate Committee on Insurance, Housing, Rural Issues and Forestry. The committee's chair at the time was Romaine Quinn. Chairs decide which bills get a hearing. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

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The same bill was also filed in the Assembly as AB 1064. That version died when the session ended.

What it would have done

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

This bill prohibits landlords from charging application fees to prospective tenants. The bill also modifies certain requirements when a landlord charges a fee to a tenant for a credit check or background check.

Current statutes do not specifically address application fees charged by a landlord for consideration of a rental application. However, the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has promulgated rules defining an “earnest money deposit” as the total of all payments or deposits “given by a prospective tenant to a landlord in return for the option of entering into a rental agreement in the future, or for having a rental agreement considered by a landlord,” which includes an application fee. DATCP rules require a landlord to fully refund an earnest money deposit if 1) the landlord rejects the rental application or refuses to enter into a rental agreement with the applicant; 2) the applicant withdraws the rental application before the landlord accepts the application; or 3) the landlord fails to approve the rental application within a specified period. If the landlord approves the application and the applicant fails to enter into the rental agreement, the landlord generally may withhold from the earnest money deposit an amount sufficient to compensate the landlord for actual costs and damages incurred because of the prospective tenant’s failure to enter into the rental agreement. If the applicant enters into the rental agreement, the landlord must apply the earnest money deposit as rent or as a security deposit or return it to the tenant.

Read the full summary

The bill prohibits a landlord from charging a prospective tenant an application fee or accepting earnest money from a prospective tenant any portion of which includes an application fee. The bill defines an “application fee” as any charge or fee imposed by a landlord on a prospective tenant for the landlord’s review and consideration of an application for tenancy under a rental agreement. An application fee does not include an authorized credit check or background check fee (discussed below).

Under current law, a landlord may require a prospective tenant to pay the landlord’s actual cost, up to $25, to obtain a credit report on a prospective tenant. If the prospective tenant is not a Wisconsin resident, the landlord may also require the prospective tenant to pay the landlord’s actual cost, up to $25, to obtain a background check. Before requesting a credit report, a landlord must notify the prospective tenant of the charge. The landlord may not require a prospective tenant to pay for a credit report if the prospective tenant provides the landlord with a credit report that is less than 30 days old before the landlord requests a credit report from a credit reporting agency. A landlord that requests a credit report or background check must provide the prospective tenant with a copy.

The bill requires a landlord to give a prospective tenant a reasonable opportunity to provide to the landlord a credit report before the landlord may charge the tenant for the cost of obtaining a credit report from a credit reporting agency. The bill also allows the tenant to provide a credit report that is less than six months old, rather than 30 days old. The bill creates similar provisions for background checks. The bill also establishes a time frame for a landlord to provide to a prospective tenant a copy of a credit report or background check report obtained by the landlord and charged to the tenant and allows the tenant to specify whether the copy is provided in digital or print format or both.

Who's behind it

4 senators are its ⁠. All 4 are Democrats.

6 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 10 names

Authors (4)

Signed on in support (6)

What happened

  1. Mar 23, 2026

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Feb 26, 2026

    Sent to the Senate Committee on Insurance, Housing, Rural Issues and Forestry.

  3. Feb 26, 2026

    Introduced in the Senate.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Feb 26, 2026 · Senate

    Introduced by Senators Wall, Ratcliff, Roys and Spreitzer; cosponsored by Representatives Palmeri, Clancy, McCarville, Sinicki, Stroud and Stubbs

  2. Feb 26, 2026 · Senate

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Insurance, Housing, Rural Issues and Forestry

  3. Mar 23, 2026 · Senate

    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