Archive for category Rental Documents

Avoid Homemade Rental Agreements . . . Regardless of What the Tenant Resource Center Tells You

Jun 2

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Rental Agreements, Rental Documents | 13 Comments

I received a troubling call from a landlord last week.  This landlord had some questions regarding management of her rental properties and told me that she had previosuly called the Landlord-Tenant Resource Center for assistance.  I informed the caller that there is no such animal as the Landlord-Tenant Resource Center and that she had actually spoken with the Tenant Resource Center, a very pro-tenant organization.

The landlord continued to tell me that she has been using the Residential Rental Agreement sold at Wisconsin Legal Blank Co. Inc. for the last 10 years and has been very happy with it.  She advised me that when she mentioned this fact to the  person at the Tenant Resource Center that she was informed that she should stop using the WLB rental agreement immediately as it was vague and indefinite and would not stand up in court.  She was then told that she should  instead draft her own lease in the future.

As many of you know, I have been the author of Wisconsin Legal Blank’s residential rental agreement for the last 15 or so years, so this criticism was news to me.  I explained that I have been representing landlords throughout Southeastern Wisconsin for years and during those hundreds of court appearances, I have never had a tenant or a tenant’s attorney raise that argument.  More importantly, I had never had a court make a ruling the the WLB rental agreement was vague or lost a case based on the alleged vagueness of the WLB rental agreement.  I am also quite sure that if other lawyers or landlords had lost a case as a result of the wording of the WLB rental agreement, that either I or Wisconsin Legal Blank would have received an angry telephone call by now. 

I proceeded to tell this landlord about the Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin and that it was an organization comprised of landlords and for landlords and that she should consider calling it in the future should she have any questions about the management of her rental properties, and not the Tenant Resource Center.  I also encouraged her to join the AASEW and believe that she is now a member.

What troubled me most about this call was not that someone was critical of the WLB rental agreement, but rather that the Tenant Resource Center advised this landlord that she would be better off drafting her own rental agreement in the future.  Those of you that have heard me speak on the topic of rental documents before know that one of my biggest concerns is when a landlord drafts their own rental agreement.  I would say that over 80% of the landlord-drafted rental agreements that I have reviewed over the years contain illegal clauses or provisions that would most likely render the rental agreement void in Wisconsin.

Inadvertently, landlords who draft their own rental agreements, often will include a provision that violates one of ATCP 134.08’s seven prohibited rental agreement provisions (“The Seven Deadly Sins”).  The result of making such a mistake is that  the landlord now has a rental agreement that is unenforceable against the tenant (but yet is still enforceable by the tenant against the landlord).  One needs to look no further than the 2001 Wisconsin Supreme Court case of Baierl v. McTaggart, 245 Wis.2d 632, 629 N.W.2d 277, to see the disastrous results of using a poorly drafted lease.

In actuality, a landlord is better served by using a pre-printed rental agreement that has been drafted by a lawyer knowledgeable in Wisconsin residential landlord tenant law — and is reviewed regularly by that lawyer – then they are by drafting their own rental agreement or cutting and pasting together a conglomeration of  rental agreements  found on the internet.

Incidentally, many of the so-called state specific rental agreements that can be purchased on the internet also contain illegal provisions that will render them unenforceable in Wisconsin.  One of these online companies actually contacted me to draft a lease for them about 5 years ago, but when they balked at actually paying me for my work, I opted to not assist them.  Apparently they found an attorney who was willing to work for free but who — unfortunately for the unsuspecting landlords that purchase this company’s online rental agreements — did not know Wisconsin residential landlord-tenant law very well and included language that would violate ATCP 134.08.  There are similar issues with the rental agreements sold at Office Depot and Office Max.

I have been mulling over the possible intent of the Tenant Resource Center employee that advised this landlord to draft her own rental agreements in the future.  All I can come up with is that tenant advocates must be putting out this so-called “advice” hoping that uneducated landlords will follow it, thus increasing a tenant’s chance of prevailing in court due if the landlords’ self-drafted rental agreement contains an illegal provisions thus making it unenforceable against the tenant.

Call me jaded, but I can’t come up with any other reasonable motivation.

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Free Landlord-Tenant Law Seminar In West Allis on March 31, 2011

Mar 25

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Rental Agreements, Rental Documents, Screening Tenants, Seminars | No Comments

I will be presenting a seminar for the West Allis Landlord Training Program on Thursday, March 31, 2011 from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm.  This seminar is sponsored by the West Allis Police Department and is open to the public at no cost.

I will be speaking on two specific areas:

1.  Rental Documents – specifically what rental documents you should be using with your tenants to protect yourself such as: Rental Agreement, Nonstandard Rental Provisions, Rules and Regulations, Rental Application, Pet Agreement, Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Forms, Carbon Monoxide Detector Forms, Check-In & Check-Out forms and more.

2.  Screening Prospective Tenants – this topic will include discussion of the federal and state Fair Housing laws, written screening criteria, credit checks, CCAP, and how to reject an applicant.

The Seminar will be held in the West Allis Municipal court room which is located at 11301 W. Lincoln Avenue in West Allis.  Seating is limited so I would encourage anyone that is interested in attending to arrive early to insure a seat.

A detailed outline on the above topics will be given to each attendee and Wisconsin Legal Blank Co. will be on hand  with their landlord tenant law forms available for purchase.

Hope to see everyone there.

New Rental Agreement for Self-Service Storage Units Now Available at Wisconsin Legal Blank

Oct 11

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Rental Agreements, Rental Documents, Self-Service Storage Units | No Comments

I have recently drafted a Self-Service Storage Unit Rental Agreement that is now available and being sold at Wisconsin Legal Blank Co., Inc.  Additionally I have drafted two seperate default notices that should be sent to the tenant who has breached the rental agreement for the self-service storage unit.  The two default notices contain differernt language as required per Wisconsin’s new law regarding self-service storage facilities and units.

Self-service storage facilities in Wisconsin are governed by sec. 704.90, Wis. Stats., which is the chapter that deals with landlord tenant relationships.  While a self-service storage unit involves a landlord tenant relationship, the laws governing these facilities and units is very different than the laws governing an apartment unit or other rental property.

Sec. 704.90 is specific to self-service storage facilities and units.  It does not apply to storage units that are incidental to the rental of a apartment unit.  For example, sec. 704.90 (and the new forms that I have drafted) would not be used if a tenant is renting an apartment unit that includes the use of a storage unit in the basement.

The laws regarding self-service storage units were significantly changed by 2009 Wisconsin Act 380 (2009 Assembly Bill 707) which is the reason that I decided to draft the new rental agreement and notice of default forms.

Some of the changes in the new law include the following:

1.     The new law makes current statutory provisions governing self-service storage facilities also apply to self-service storage units.  A self-service storage units include a box, shipping container, or trailer that is leased by a tenent primarily for use as a storage space whether the unit is located at a facility owned or operated by the owner or at a locations designated by the tenant.  This change in the law was made to address the new PODS type units that are being leased to people who store the units off-site from the self-service storage facility.

2.   The new law requires that if a self-service storage facility rental agreement includes a provision that limits the value of the property stored, that the clause must be printed in bold or underlined type of the same size as the rest of the agreement.  The limit listed in any agreement is presumed to be the maximum value of the property stored in the unit.

3.     After the termination of the rental agreement, an owenr may deny the tenant access to the personal property remaining in the leased space until the tenant redeems the property by paying the owner any rent and other charges that are due. 

4.   The owner may sell the property after providing two notices to the tenant, and if the tenant does not redeem the property within fourteen days after the date of the second notice. 

5.   The new law provides that the second notice of default may be sent via certified mail or by first class mail with a certificate of mailing.

6.   If the tenant does not redeem the property, then an owner who wishes to sell the property, must publish an advertisement of the sale once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation where the self-service storage facility is located.

6.     The new law eliminates the old requirement that an owner’s advertisement of the sale of the abandoned property include the nubler of the space where the property was located.

7.     The old law required that any sale of the abandoned property be conducted in a “commercially reasonable manner.”  The new law states that the sale must meet one of the following requirements: (a) the property is offerred as a single parcel or multiple parcels at a public sale attended by three or more bidders, (b) the property has been offerred to at least three persons who deal with the type of personal property offerred for sale and is sold in a provate transaction, or (c) the property is sold in another manner that is commercially reasonable.

8.   The new law allows the owner or operator of the self-service storage facility to do the following with the property if they do not want to sell the property, if the value of the property is less than $100 and proper notice is provided: (a) donate it to a non-profit organization, (b) dispose of it in a solid waste facility, (c) recycle it, (d) remove it in another reasonable manner.

9.   The old law allowed “any person” to bring a civil lawsuit for a violation of the self-service storage facility laws — this resulted in a very well known 2008 lawsuit entitled Cook v. Public Storage Inc., in which the owner/operator was sued by the parents of a tenant, who happened to also store some of their belongings in the tenant’s self-service storage units.  The new law allows only the “lessee” (tenant) to bring such a lawsuit.

For those of you owning and operating self-service storage facilties and units I hope the new rental agrrement, Notice of Default #1, and Notice of Default #2, prove helpful in assisting that you follow the applicable laws.

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New Carbon Monoxide Detector Notice Form (and Others) Available at Wisconsin Legal Blank

Sep 30

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Carbon Monoxide Detectors, Rental Documents | No Comments

I have recently completed drafting 3 new forms that Wisconsin Legal Blank Co., Inc. now has available for purchase that should assist landlords and property managers with their rental units..

The new forms are:

1.  Carbon Monoxide Detector Notice:

As of April 1, 2010, state law requires that an owner of a residential property must install a carbon monoxide detector  in various locations within the property.   This new notice sets forth the state requirements as to where the detectors must be located.  The notice also alerts owners that state law requires the owner maintain the detector.  The new law, which can be found at Sec. 101.149, Wis. Stats., also requires a tenant to provide an owner with written notice if the carbon monoxide detector is not working.  Once the owner receives this notice s/he has 5 days to repair or replace the carbon monoxide detector.

This new form sets forth all of the pertinent requirements under the new law and acknowledges that the the owner has complied with this law.  A tenant’s signature on the form acknowledges that the detectors in the rental unit are working and that the tenant is aware that they must notify the owner in writing should any detector stop working or not work properly.

2.   Miscellaneous Complaint Form:

This document will provide landlords with a standardized form that s/he can use  and provide to all tenants so that if a tenant has a complaint it can be documented properly in writing. 

As we all know, it is easier for a landlord to monitor and address tenants complaints if they are provided in writing.  Additionally, a tenant will often testify in court that they didn’t  pay rent becasue the landlord failed to remedy some problem in the unit which the landlord was never notified of.  If a landlord has a policy and procedure in place to provide all tenants with blank written complaint forms at the outset of the tenancy and require them to document any complaints in writing,  the fact that a tenant failed to provide written notice of a problem (when a form was provided) should help to avoid those “he said – she said” situations in court.

3.   Rent Promotion/Concession Agreement:

With the recession in full force, I have noticed that many of my clients and other landlords are offerring new tenants some form of concession in order to induce them to move-in.  A common problem that I have noticed with the self-drafted promotion/concession agreements that are being used, is that many of them are not clear and do not accurately set forth the agreement. For example, many of the agreements that I have seen do not clearly state that if the tenant does not perform all obligations under the rental agreement for the term of the lease, that the concession will be forfeited.  Failure to have this clearly stated in any concession agreement will allow the tenant to receive the benefits of the concession (such as first month’s rent free or reduced rent for first month’s rent) and still break or breach the lease.

It is my hope that with this form, landlords will at the very least have the necessary language to use — if they wish to offer a concession or promotion — so that should the tenant vacate prior to the end of the rental term, or be evicted prior to the rental term, or if the tenant’s tenancy is terminated by the landlord for any reason, that the tenant will forfeit ther rent concession.

I have been working on some additional forms for WLB that should be available in the near future — I will let you know when they are ready.

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NEW LANDLORD FORM NOW AVAILABLE REGARDING TENANT’S RESPONSIBILITY FOR LAWN CUTTING AND SNOW REMOVAL

Mar 23

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Rental Agreements, Rental Documents | 5 Comments

I have recently completed drafting a new form for landlords to use that is now being sold at Wisconsin Legal Blank Co., Inc.

Addendum To Residential Rental Agreement: Responsibility for Yard Care and Exterior Upkeep

Form #985 is entitled Addendum To Residential Rental Agreement.  This document sets forth a tenant’s responsibility for yard care and exterior upkeep of the rental property.  This form should only be used if the landlord is renting out a single-family home or a duplex and wishes the tenant to be responsible for yard care and exterior upkeep (such as snow and ice removal and the cutting the lawn).  This form should not be used for multi-unit apartment buildings. 

This document addresses the following tenant responsibilities:

1.   Snow and ice removal

2.   Cutting of grass

3.   Disposal of garbage

4.   Disposal of recyclables

5.   Removal of litter/debris

6.   Special pick-up of large items

7.   Exterior lighting

8.   Porches

9.   Windows

10.   Damage to exterior

11.   Parking of vehicles

12.   Washing of vehicles

13.   Swimming/wading pools

14.   Watering of grass, and

15.   Yard tools

This form states that if the tenant fails to perform any of the listed duties that the landlord can choose to do the work  himself or herself or hire someone to complete the work and that the tenant will be responsible for repayment of any and all associated costs.  Additionally the form indicates that failure to complete the listed duties is a material breach of the rental agreement and may be grounds for eviction.

This addendum is a nonstandard rental provision document (refer to ATCP 134.06(3)(b)) and as such it allows a landlord to deduct the actual costs incurred by the landlord (should the tenant fail to complete the duties) from the tenant’s security deposit.

It is important to remember that form #985 is just that — a form.  Some of the paragraphs may not be applicable to your specific situation.  Some landlords may decide that they do not want the tenant to perform some of the listed work.  In that case the landlord should cross out the provisions that are not applicable and then initial the change and have the tenant also initial the change. 

There will be other situations where a landlord may want the tenant to be responsible for additional duties which are not listed in the form.  In that case the landlord should attach a separate sheet which will list the additional duties.  This attachment should clearly be labeled as page two of the Addendum To Residential Rental Agreement: Responsibility for Yard Care and Exterior Upkeep and should also be signed and dated by all adult tenants.  As always, if you are unsure whether any additional provisions that you add to this form are allowed under Wisconsin landlord-tenant law, you should have those additions reviewed by an experienced landlord-tenant law attorney.

Since many landlords of duplexes and single-family rentals do require their tenants to perform yard care and other related duties, it is my hope that this form will assist landlords in specifying in writing what duties the tenant will be responsible for and what will happen if the tenant shirks those responsibilities.

I would like to thank Attorney Heiner Giese for his review and suggestions to this form.

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Wisc. Legal Blank Co.’s New & Improved Residential Rental Agreement Is Now Available.

Feb 7

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Rental Agreements, Rental Documents | No Comments

I wanted to alert anyone that is currently using the Residential Rental Agreement that is sold at Wisconsin Legal Blank Co, Inc. (and even those of you who don’t : ) that the new and improved version is now available ans is being sold at WLB.

I completed the revisions to the updated Agreement last week.  The new version indicates a revision date of 1/4/10 whereas the prior version had a revision date of 1/31/07.

Some of the changes include:

1.   I retitled the document “Residential Rental Agreement” — believe it or not I have seen this document improperly used for commercial properties (Note: I will be drafting a form Commercial Lease in the ensuing months for WLB).

2.   I attempted (and think that I succeeded) in removing all legalese from the Agreement in order to make it more understandable for everyone.  So you no longer need to read “heretofore” “therein” “hereof” and wonder to yourself “what the heck does that mean?”

3.   I eliminated some of the “fill in the blank” sections that were causing confusion for some landlords and property managers.  The eliminated sections were not really necessary anyways – so they’re outta there.

4.   I retitled the “Guarantee” section to “Co-Signer / Guarantor” is an attempt to make it more clear that landlords/managers do not need to have the resident/tenant sign this section.  This section need only be signed by individuals (other than the tenant) that are guaranteeing that the tenant will meet all of the conditions in  the Agreement.  For example:  a parent would sign as a co-signer/gurantor for a student tenant that is not employed and/or does not have sufficient credit.

5.  I added a sentence that states that if the Landlord provides the Tenant with an Inspection Checklist (a.k.a. “Check-In/Check-Out” form) and the Tenant fails to return it to the Landlord within seven days after the start of the tenancy, that the Tenant will be considered to have accepted the Premises without any exceptions.”

6.   I deleted the fill in the blank lines relating to “Special Provisions” relating to pets.  The purpose for doing this is to alert landlords that there is a separate docuement entitled “Pet Agreement” that they should be using if they are allowing tenants to keep pets  — rather then trying to cram all of that info into 2 lines on the Rental Agreement.”  By being forced — “forced” may be too strong of a word — to use the Pet Agreement a landlord will also notice (on the Pet Agreement form) that s/he may charge the tenant a refundable pet fee and/or a non-refundable pet fee and it will also make the landlord clearly define the specific pet that is being allowed to reside at the Premises.

7.   I clarified the section that dealt with the type of notice that a tenant must provide the Landlord prior to vacting.  The goal was to make this notice process more understandable for the tenant (and therefore less of a headache for landlords).  This revised section will also serve as a default provision should the landlord fail to include another (i.e. longer) notice provision for the tenant.  The section includes both a notice provision for month to month tenants and tenants that are under a lease for term.

8.   I added a section regarding abandoned personal property.  The section states that any personal property that is left at the Premises after the Tenant has vacated will be considered to have no value and to have been abandoned by the Tenant and therefore it may be disposed of by the Landlord, unless the Tenant notifies the Landlord otherwise – in writing – prior to vacating.

9.    I added a new provision regarding a tenant’s responsibility for maintaining and paying for utilities through the end of theiir tenancy or until the last day that the tenant is responsible for paying rent.

10.   I included a new section that defines late fees, security deposits, utility charges and any other penalty or fee set forth in the Agreement as “rent” – much like is done in commercial leases.

11.   I added a provision stating tha the landlord/manager represents that there are no code violations or other conditions affecting the habitability of the Premises unless indicated otherwise in writing.

12.   I added a new section that clarifies who will be responsible for any extermination costs of the Tenant’s unit and under what circumstances.

13.   I included a provision recommending that all Tenants purchase renter’s insurance and explaining why this is reccomended.

14.   I removed the Consent to Assignment or Sub-Lease section.  I removed this section to reinforce the fact that landlords of residential rental properties would be better protected by entering into a new Rental Agreement (and other rental documents) with a new individual that moves into the Premises after a prior tenant was evicted or vacated the unit, rather then to just assigning or sub-leasing the Premises and continuing to use the old tenant’s rental documents.  While this will result in more paperwork for the landlord, the protections that it will provide more than outweigh the additional paper.  A Landlord in this situation should have the new tenant sign all new rental documents especially a new Lead-Based Paint Disclosure statement (and provide the new tenant with a new EPA pamphlet) and have the new tenant sign and/or initial a new Nonstandard Rental Provisions document rather then just relying on the old documents that the prior tenant signed.  Trust me, if you end up in a court battle (i.e. eviction lawsuit or defending a claim that you violated ATCP 134) or facing the wrath of the EPA, you will be thankful that you used the extra paper.

15.   Finally, I cleaned up all of the mispellings, improper grammar, and other typos  — at least I think I did.

I would reccomend that you toss out any old versions of the Rental Agreement that you may have in your possession and the next time that you renew or rent out a rental unit that you use this new and improved Residential Rental Agreement form.

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Does Your Tenant Have A Pet? If Yes, Then You Should Be Using A Written Pet Agreement

Dec 9

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Pets, Rental Documents | 2 Comments

In talking with my clients and potential clients over the past year, I have also noticed that more and more landlords are allowing tenants to keep pets.  I am not sure if this is because of the many pet owners that were also homeowners that have since lost their homes to foreclosure and have been forced to become renters or if it is because landlords are trying to be more accomodating to their tenants’ wishes in order to keep their rental units occupied during a difficult recesssion — or a combination of both. 

Whatever the reason for this trend, if you are allowing your tenants to have pets then you must make sure that you are using a strong written Pet Agreement.  Unfortunatly too many landlords do not use such a document – and it typically is to their detriment.  Let’s face it, “man’s best friend” (if never trained or poorly trained) can cause A LOT OF DAMAGE to a rental unit.  Don’t even get me started about cats.  While I personally have a cat that I am very fond of my experience with cats in rental units has not been good.  Can you say “personal litter box?”  Here is a Wisconsin Court of Appeals case about the damage that pets can cause to a rental unit.

Whether or not you choose to allow pets in your rentals is a business decision that all landlords must grapple with at one point or another.  All animals, even rabbits, birds, reptiles, and fish can end up causing damage to a rental unit.  If you have made the decision to allow pets then you need a good Pet Agreement. Read the rest of this entry »

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