Wisconsin: landlord had to refund rent for entire tenancy - Koble case is now law

[Marcus Auerbach]

Wisconsin landlord tenant law has been pretty reasonable, but we just had a major shift with the Koble case. Because of language in a "homemade" lease the landlord had to pay back all the rent they have received over the entire tenancy. This could result in class action lawsuits where tenants of a building file together and basically wipe out even mid-sized landlords.

 In summary: if a landlord has a provision in its rental agreement, which includes any rental documents as they are incorporated into the rental agreement, that violate any of the “10 Deadly Sins,” the landlord must return all rent that it received from the tenant during the tenant’s entire tenancy. (The “10 Deadly Sins” are illegal rental agreement provisions as set forth in Wis. Stat. § 704.44.)

Essentially, because of something that may not even have been intentional by the landlord, the tenant will get to live in the landlord’s rental property for free for the tenant’s entire tenancy, even if the tenant was not damaged because of the prohibited language in the rental agreement.

You can read the details on the website of the RPA, which is the largest REIA in Wisconsin and will try to fight this.

RPA is a Milwaukee based non-profit and your support is appreciated.

We are hosting an emergency Zoom call tomorrow with Atty Tristan Pettit, anyone can join, details under RPAWI.org