Wisconsin — landlord and rental rules

Wis. Stat. § 66.1015 prohibits a city, village, town, or county from regulating the amount of rent or fees charged for a residential rental dwelling unit.

The statute preserves government-owned or operated housing and voluntary agreements with private persons. It does not displace independently applicable lease, notice, retaliation, discrimination, subsidy, or federal requirements.

In effect since 1991-08-15.

Wis. Stat. § 704.17 supplies different notice routes for nonpayment, other breach, repeat breach, tenancy length, and specified criminal activity; § 704.21 controls how notice is given, and removal still proceeds through the statutory court process.

No single notice period is safe to project without the lease term, ground, cure history, service facts, protected-status rules, and current court procedure. A notice is not itself an order authorizing physical removal.

In effect since 2018-04-18.

Wis. Stat. § 704.07 applies to every residential tenancy. Subject to tenant-caused damage and the section's other boundaries, it requires a landlord to maintain controlled portions and promised service equipment, make necessary structural repairs, and comply with applicable local housing codes; materially unsafe or untenantable conditions can trigger the section's removal or rent-abatement rules.

The condition, notice, cause, lease, local housing code, prompt repair, and degree of lost use matter. This entry does not calculate an abatement or authorize unilateral repair-and-deduct action.

In effect since 2018-04-18.

Wis. Stat. § 704.28 limits residential security-deposit withholding to the listed losses and agreed nonstandard provisions, bars withholding for normal wear and tear, and requires delivery or mailing of the remaining deposit within 21 days after the statutory trigger.

The trigger differs when a tenant leaves on time, leaves or is evicted early, or remains beyond termination. ATCP 134.06 separately governs the itemized statement and other residential deposit practices.

Return deadline

21 days after the applicable § 704.28(4) trigger

In effect since 2014-03-01.

Wis. Stat. § 704.44 makes a residential rental agreement void and unenforceable if it contains any listed prohibited provision, including specified waivers, self-help remedies, attorney-fee shifting, and liability terms.

The result turns on the exact clause and the statute's complete list. This is not a conclusion that an unreviewed lease is valid or invalid.

In effect since 2014-03-01.

Wis. Stat. § 66.0104 withdraws local authority over specified landlord, rental-agreement, fee, inspection, registration, occupancy, and information requirements while preserving only the section's stated exceptions and uniformly applicable powers.

The statute is a subject-by-subject preemption rule, not proof that every local housing, building, zoning, fair-housing, or health ordinance is absent. Any local conclusion still requires the exact current ordinance and an exact jurisdiction match.

In effect since 2018-04-18.

The current Wisconsin Chapter 704 and ATCP 134 sources supply this statewide layer. No county, city, village, town, or Nation ordinance is included merely because the authority appears in the official registry.

Local regulation coverage remains 0 until a primary ordinance is sourced, effective-dated, and joined to the exact county-qualified authority. Postal names, unmatched V12 labels, stale registries, and tribal or other ambiguous geography select only the statewide layer.

In effect since 2026-09-05.