Voidable provisions in residential rental agreements and the application of the Wisconsin Consumer Act to leases. (FE)

In addition, in April 2024, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals published a decision, Koble Invs. v Marquardt , 2024 WI App 26, regarding certain landlord and tenant matters. As of February 28, 2025, the case was on appeal to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, with parties’ first briefings due to the court in March 2025.

Among the holdings in Koble , the court of appeals determined that a particular landlord was acting as a “debt collector” and that landlord’s tenant was a “customer” as those terms are defined under Wisconsin Consumer Act. The court of appeals also held that because the landlord violated a provision of the Wisconsin Consumer Act, the tenant’s attorney was entitled to recover reasonable attorney fees and court costs. Under this bill, the Wisconsin Consumer Act does not apply to residential leases or mobile home leases.

In the same case, the court of appeals held that the tenant’s lease was void and unenforceable under landlord and tenant law, and that, under another law enforcing fair methods of competition, the tenant could recover twice the amount of the tenant’s pecuniary loss, together with reasonable attorney fees and court costs. The bill provides that under landlord and tenant law, a person injured by a voidable provision can recover twice the amount of the pecuniary loss, together with reasonable attorney fees and court costs, and provides that such pecuniary loss does not include any rent paid by the tenant. The bill also limits the remedies a person may seek when a rental agreement includes a voidable provision to only those remedies provided in the bill.