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#1 by gayathri on October 10th, 2011
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MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – I have signed a lease for renting an apartment in Milwaukee, WI. But I lost my job and has to move to a different state. I have asked my landlord to help me in subletting the apartment. In the mean time I found bedbugs in the apartment(This community has a huge history of bed bugs which I found only after this) and I have asked them to let me off my lease citing this problem. After I made multiple complaints about bedbugs to my landlord about a month ago and after multiple treatments (both chemical and heat) I still found bedbugs in the apartment. On my part, I have washed and dried all my clothes, threw every furniture out, sprayed my bags/luggage as suggested by the terminator, and in addition to that dried the luggage’s individually with a hair drier on high heat (the front of the drier has melted because of the heat), put them all in the plastic bags after that and tied them up. I threw my furniture out and absolutely don’t have any furniture until now and have been sleeping on the floor since then. I did not even put my clothes back in the closet and have picking them up from the plastic bags as needed and tied the bag after that. I even have pictures of my house since then. They have heat treated the apartment twice and I found a bedbug the very next day. I have made multiple attempts to contact the property manager to talk about the lease and bedbug problem both in person and through phone, but he is neither meeting me nor replying to my calls. Do I have any legal rights to get out of the lease. Can I take him to court for refusing to talk to me/listen to my problems.
Also my lease agreement says the landlord will make reasonable efforts in finding a sub leaser. While they have been placing advertisements on Craigslist for other people living in the same community to sublet theirs they have not been doing so for me after I complained about the bedbug. They said they will place the advertisement after treating it for bedbugs but its been 10 days after that and they have not placed any advertisement. Do I have any legal rights in this case.
Thank you,
Gayathri
#2 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on October 10th, 2011
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Gayathri – thanks you for your questions. I am not able to provide leagl advice via this blog. I can provide you with the general law however. Depending on who brought the bed bugs into the unit, the landlord may have a duty to eradicae them. It sounds as if the landlord is trying to do so by hiring an exterminator. Bedbugs are very difficult to eradicate however.
There are certain situations where a tenant does have the right to break their lease and I would suggest you contact a tenant’s atty. to see if your situation would fall into that category.
A landlord does have a duty to attempt to re-rent a unit for a tenant once they vacated. If I understand correctly however you have not vacated your unit yet. Additionally, the landlord will need to eradicate any bedbugs (regardless of who introduced them to the unit) before s/he can rent it out to a new tenant.
Many of your questions are very specific in nature and therefore involve the giving of legal advice. You should retain a lawyer who can then review the entire situation and provide you with specifc advice.
Good Luck
T
#3 by Amber on October 12th, 2011
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I work for a Property here in Wisconsin and I was wondering what the laws are for approving or denying an apllication with roomates. Meaning…does each person need to be qualified for the unit individually or as a whole?
#4 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on October 12th, 2011
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Amber — there is no law on that issue — that is a business decision that each landlord or property manager can make. I have clients that require each individual roommate meet all of their screening criteria — this is what I reccomend to avoid any potential liability for fair housing issues. But I have others who treat the roommmates together in terms of qualifying. I do not reccomend this but it is not against the law — except for potential discrimination issues.
#5 by Carol Hochschild on October 12th, 2011
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I own a 4 family apartment building. A tenant has moved and
left us with some cockroaches. Another tenant has moved
without written notice and without 2 months notice. They
gave 1 week verbal notice and then were not sure they were
going to move. We have had a professional exterminator, but
I presume there are still a few roaches. There are three other
tenants in the building who say there are only a few roaches
and they are not considerting moving because of them. Do
we have cause to not refund there security deposit? Thank you.
#6 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on October 13th, 2011
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Carol — Thanks for your question however I am not allowed to give legal advice on this blog. There would need to be additional questions asked and answered in order to evaluate whether or not you can legally withhold the tenant’s security deposit. Some initial thoughts however would be to talk to your exterminator and see if they are able and willing to testify that your tenant caused the roach infestation. I would reccomend that you retain a lawyer to assist you with this decision. There is a lot hanging over your head if a court would determine that you withheld improper amounts from a tenant’s security deposit — double damages and attorney fees — so it is important to analyze this.
You also should review any municipal ordinance that may be applicable regarding pest infestation. I know that the city of Milwaukee has one — so if your rental proeprty is in Milwaukee you will need to review that ordinance as well when evaluationg how to proceed.
Good luck
T
#7 by George on October 20th, 2011
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Hello – I ran across your site and was curious if you can offer some advice. I’ve been a model tenant for a dozen years in my current apartment. The property was in a partnership that was dissolved and one of the original partners now has sole ownership. They own 5 – 6 other apartment complexs as well.
The issue is they have a skeleton maintenance crew and I’ve had issues for the last 18 months with very slow responses. The rental owner also has a hotel and their maintenance crew makes that their priority while I wait weeks for someone to show up for even the smallest reqeust.
What are my right and what is the best forum to get action on this? The city, state, Better Business Bureau or other avenue?
#8 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on October 21st, 2011
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George — You should put your concerns in writing to your landlord and follo wup with them. How to proceed from there depends on what municipality the rental property is, what the problem is specifically, and whether or not the problem was something that was caused by you or makes the rental uninhabitable. The laws are also different in different states and you didnt idicate where the rental property is.
T
#9 by Jennifer on November 1st, 2011
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Hi. Quick question. Haven’t been able to find a definate answer. A tenants guest’s ex-boyfriend threw a brick through the front picture window resulting in breakage. Is she responsible for payment (or deductible from insurance company)? Thank you.
#10 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on November 1st, 2011
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Jennifer — I cant give legal advice via this blog. Having said that, if the boyfriend was a guest of the tenant at the time of the damage then an argument could be made that she is repsponsible. It will depend on the specific factual circumstances.
#11 by David on November 11th, 2011
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Quick question I’m hoping you might be able to answer:
I rent the lower unit of a two-unit townhouse. A few weeks ago, a VERY large limb fell off the tree from the house next door, leaving a hole in our garage roof. So far, no repairs have been made, or even an attempt at temporarily covering the hole. With winter fast approaching, I’m concerned that snow will start filling the garage (where we park), and the weight of the snow and the amount of recent rain will just make this damage worse.
I know it’s not my responsibility as a tenant to fix this hole, but I am wondering at what point I should place the demand on my landlord to get it fixed. He’s generally pretty slow on handling these sorts of things, so before I start hounding him about it, I want to make sure it’s even something he’s responsible for/required in any way to get repaired.
Thanks…love this blog purely out of curiosity and am happy I actually have a reason to submit something!
#12 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on November 13th, 2011
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David – I would suggest that you advise your landlord of the problem in writing. It is a Wisconsin’s landlord to maintain a rental unit in a habitable condition unless the damage was created by the tenant. From your comment it does not appear that you caused the tree limb to fall down : ). The garage is not the rental unit itself and you are not living in the garage, nonethless you entered into a rental agreement to pay X per month and in exchange for that you were to receive a parking spot in a garage with a roof over it. You no longer have access to the garage I am assuming through no fault of your own. So more than likely it is your landlord’s responsibility to repair the damage. So I would open up a dialogue with him or her and make sure that you have provided written notice of the condition and when it occurred.
Glad to hear that you enjoy the blog.
T
#13 by Maria on November 22nd, 2011
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Hi I had a quick question I live in a duplex in the lower level since July of this year my landlord has not fix our kitchen as said we have a build in china cabinet that is all broken there’s no doors or nothing our sink Has paint all over and the faucets handles are broken its been like that since we moved in and always said will fix by the end of the month and nothing has happen . Also around the house the light plug socket in the walls some are broken or don’t work. We tryed talking to them but We just get by the end off the month and nothing what should I do. I’m new in renting
#14 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on November 30th, 2011
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Maria — If there was work that you wanted to be done to the unit that induced you to enter into the renal agreement then you should have made sure that the work and the dates of completion were in the lease. In fact, Wisconsin law requires that landlords put all promises to repair prior to entering into the lease with a date of completion.
I’m assuming that you asked for the repairs after moving in and after signing the lease. You should put your requests in writing to your landlord. If the problems are violations of a building code, you could consider contacting the local building code office – although I don’t reccomend this typically, but it shoulds as if your landlord has been ignoring you for some time – so that may be the route you have to go.
it does not sound as if any of the problems would render the unit uninhabitable, if that were the case then Wisconsin law allows for you to vacate and/or abate rent.
Before you do anything you should retain a lawyer that represents tenants to review your situation so that you can get some good advice.
I cannot give legal advice via this blog.
T
#15 by Shane on December 6th, 2011
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Can you evict someone for non payment of rent with a pending lawsuit against you?
#16 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on December 6th, 2011
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Shane — Not sure that I understand your question. But generally, yes, a landlord can evict a tenant for failure to pay rent, regardless of whether or not the landlord or tenant have any other pending lawsuits regardless of who the parties are). Since I can’t give legal advice via this blog however and since I do not know your specific situation I would reccomend you seek a lawyer to review your specific sitaution and apprise you of your options.
T
#17 by Josh on January 2nd, 2012
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Can my neighbor sue me for damages she claims were caused by my ex-tenant?
#18 by Don on January 3rd, 2012
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I am looking for a list that Rent Assisitance uses for landlords who want to list there properties with them. A list that includes items that the inspectors will look for. Like do the windows need to have screens or do the bedrooms need doors on them.
items I can work on before they come in for inspection. I checked the website nothing. I called and they emailed me a blank inspection form, but that doesnt include what they are looking for. Only if it needs work or passes.
Thanks, Don
#19 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on January 3rd, 2012
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Josh — Any one can sue anyone for anything. Whether or not they would prevail will such a lwsuit is a different question and one that I do not know the answer to as it is most likely very fact specific. I cannot give legal advice via this blog. If you would like a thorough answer as to what are your neighbor’s chances of suceeding in suing you for damages caused by yourex-tenant I would suggest that you retain a lawyer to evaluate the spefic facts and circumstances and apply them to the law, when giving you an opinion.
#20 by Marcy on January 9th, 2012
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I have a tenant who was supposed to move out Dec 31 (noon).
He knew that I did not have the unit rented for Jan 1, so he just stayed in the unit for an extra few days. I want to deduct double rent for those few days from him. Is there a problem with this?
Also, if he only pays a portion of the rent and rent assistance pays the balance, can I deduct the full amount from him? I am not planning to deduct anything else since he will fight me on everything. Thanks.
#21 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on January 10th, 2012
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Marcy — Please understand that I cannot provide legal advice via this blog. But I can talk generally about the topics you raise in your comment. If a tenant says that they will vacate by X and then stay beyond X they are what is called a “holdover tenant” from the day they said they would leave until the day that they actually do leave. Per WI statute 704.27 the statute may recover from the tenant damages sufferred by the landlord as a result of the tenant not vacating when they said they would. At a minimum a landlord can charge a tenant for double the daily rent apportioned on a daily basis for the period of the holdover.
With regard to your other question re: rent assistance, you will need to read your contract with the rent assistance provider (RAP) closely. Each contract is different but the ones that I have reviewed that involve the City fo Milwaukee and Milwaukee COunty clearly state that the tenant is only responsible for their share of the rent as listed in the contract. So if rent was $700 total and tenant was to pay $200 and RAP pays $500, then a landlord would most likely be in error if they were to charge double the rent of $700 against the tenant for the holdover period since the tenant in contractually obligated to only pay $200 oer month rent. So you will need to review your RAP contract closely and I am pretty sure that after doing so, you will have your answer.
T
#22 by Shane on January 23rd, 2012
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Tristen, Can I keep a security deposit to cover perding late fees? Security deposit was $950 and we have calclated that she owes over $4000 in late fees. The lease states that she is to pay $10 per day after the 5th of the month and we have never recieved rent befor the 15th of the month…. Sometimes she has been 30+ days behind. We finally decided to cut ties with her after 4 years of never paying on time.
#23 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on January 23rd, 2012
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Shane — I’m sorry but I can’t give legal advice via this blog — so I cannot directly answer your question.
Generally however, if a lease has a late fee provision clearly stated in writing (thus allowing you to charge a late fee) and the late fee amount is also included in a nonstandard rental provision (thus allowing a late fee to be deducted from a security deposit) then technically a landlord can withhold a security deposit for late fees that have been incurred prior to 21 days after the tenant vacated.
Some counties do not allow for daily late fees — so that could become an issue in your situation.
I would reccomend that you consult with an attorney that handles L-T matters in your specific county to analyze y7our situation and give you legal advice.
T
#24 by Christina on February 1st, 2012
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I won my case against a tenant that vacated without notice and had 9 months remaining on her lease. I was also awareded 800.00 in late charges since my contract clearly listed the fees and she lost the counterclaim for the security deposit. Her lawyer has appealed.
I have a question regarding our original lease contract. We were an LLC at the time and dissolved it later that year. The tenant renewed her lease after 1 year – all though the renewal does not list our names or LLC. It states all terms and conditions of original lease apply. Do you think they have a loophole of getting out of the contract?
The other thing is the water bill is split with the upper and lower the commissioner stated that was illegal however she awarded me the past due water bill amount. Would this be a reason to find our contract null and void? I guess my main thing is – our case was pretty clear cut, she had a contract and did not fulfill it.
Why would she spend more time and money on a lawyer and another trial – unless they found an angle.
#25 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on February 1st, 2012
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Christina — Congratulations. Please understand that I cannot give legal advice via this blog so I cannot advise you whether or not the tenant has a loophole that will result in a different decision by the judge at the de novo review. That would involve me reviewing all of your documetns and getting all of the facts.
If your duplex is not separately metered between the two units it is required that the lease include in writing how the water will be split (i.e. 50% to each unit). As long as that is done then you are in compliance. If that is not included in the lease then you might have issues with that. If you lost on that issue it would basically mean that the tenant could argue that they are not responsible for the water bills. In my opinion that would not render the lease void.
I have long ago stopped trying to determine why people do the things they do? Keeps my sanity intact. Most likely the tenant’s lawyer believes that the court commissioenr made a mistake. Regardless, a de novo review is a right that both parties have — a “do over” if you will – so the tenant may just want to see if the judge feels the same was as the commissioenr – I really don’t know.
T
#26 by Christina on February 1st, 2012
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Thank you so much Tristan. Yes, the lease states the tenant pays 1/2 of the water bill – and it states it in the NSRP as well.
Any information reagarding the LLC vs the LLC being dissolved mid-contract? I can not seem to find anything out there that supports if that would make a contract void.
#27 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on February 2nd, 2012
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Christina — You are welcome. the regulation that deals with the utility disclosure issue is Wisconsin Admin. Code ATCP134.04(3) which states:
(3) Utility charges. If charges for water, heat or electricity are not included in the rent, the landlord shall disclose this fact to the tenant before entering into a rental agreement or accepting any earnest money or security deposit from the prospective tenant. If individual dwelling units and common areas are not separately metered, and if the charges are not included in the rent, the landlord shall disclose the basis on which charges for utility services will be allocated among individual dwelling units.
I do not know for sure whether the dissolution of an LLC that owns a rental property in mide lease term somehow affect the terms of the tenancy. I don’t know why it would however. Leases travel with the property not the owner. If I had a lease with tenant A for 12 months and then I sell the property to you, you would inherit Tenant A and the lease and be bound by it (unless Tenant A agrees to rewrite it) until the end of the term.
So it would seem to me that your situation would be analogous. So the LLC doesn’t own it anymore – so what. Now the individual memebers of the LLC own it — th epoint is the lease is still in effect.
#28 by Christina on February 2nd, 2012
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Thank you so very much! You have confirmed what I thought but had second guessed myself.
I have read your blog and almost all the topics. Thank you for all the time, research and effort you put into doing this! You have helped many people I am sure!
#29 by Aaron on February 10th, 2012
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Tristan:
Your blog is great! I’m a new landlord, and I’m getting ready to lease my upper duplex unit for the first time. I have multiple showings this weekend, and I’m wondering -
If I receive multiple applications over the course of a few days, can I choose the best of the applicants, or do I have to review each and make an objective decision in the order I received them? Is there a requirement about how quickly I have to make my decision?
Thank you for all the information you have posted
A
#30 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on February 10th, 2012
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Aaron — Great question unfortunately the answer is dependant on a lot of things that involve me asking you questions. A thorough answer would also be the length of a small book.
The quick answer is it depends on your screening criteria — which I am guessing you dont have since this is the first time you are doing this. I would suggest you read my posts on screening criteria.
There are not requirements on how soon you need to evaluate an applicant (other than good business practices) unless you accept earnest money. If you take earnest money then you have until the third business day to make a decision or else must refund the earnest money.
Many landlords do evaluate it on a “first in” basis — so the first qualified tenant that meets their screenign criteria would be accepted. That is also the safest route in terms of avoiding any claims of fair housing violations. I know of others that will do evaluate a group of applicants at the same time and take the one that comes out best when applying their screening criteria even if they were not the first person to turn in the application. While legally, I see nothing wrong with that, it can pose more or a problem should the applicant who first returned the application (and assuming they also met your screening criteria) decides to file a state or federal claim of discrimination against you.
On Feb. 25th I will be conducting an all-day seminar entitled “Landlord Boot Camp” and this topic will be thoroughly discussed as will screening criteria in general. If you are interested you can find more information on Boot Camp on my most recent blog post or by clickin on the blue tab under the header of the blog entitled “Seminars”
T
#31 by Dan on February 27th, 2012
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Tristan:
Can you tell me if a 14-day notice is effective upon the date it was mailed by the landlord or when it was received by the tenant?
I received the rent check (which was 22 days late) the day after I sent the 14-day notice via certified mail. The tenant claims she did not get the notice until a day after I received the rent check and that my notice is not “valid”. Is this correct?
#32 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on February 28th, 2012
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Dan — Per sec. 704.19(7)(b) notice served via certified mail is deemed served on the second day after mailing.
So if you mailed it on Feb. 15th for example it is deemed served on Feb. 17th. So if you received the rent on Feb. 16th then the tenant paid before the notice was legally served upon her.
#33 by Jenny on March 20th, 2012
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I have a question about Joint and Several Liability. In a siuation where 3 tenants all signed the same lease (1) and pay their rent with three separate checks. One tenant moves out and does not pay their entire porition of their rent, can I sue the vacating tenant for the remaining portion of the rent?
#34 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on March 20th, 2012
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Jenny – great question. See my 9-22-11 post on Roommates which answers your question.
T
#35 by Lori on March 23rd, 2012
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Hi, My friend owns a house and he decided he wanted to rent it out to some people and now they are behind on rent and have caused disturbances with the neighbor. My friend does not have any rental agreements in writing, it was all verbal, how would he be able to evict them?
Thanks
#36 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on March 23rd, 2012
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Lori — When a landlord does not have a written rental agreement typically the default is that he has a verbal month to month tenancy with the tenant. A month to month tenancy can be terminated by serving a 28 day notice on the tenant (there need not even have been a breach), a 14 day notice stating the breach with no right to cure, or a 5 day notice stating the breach which gives the tenant 5 days to cure the breach and stay as a tenant.
So the proper notice would need to be drafted and then served on the tenant which would then (once the time passes) terminate the tenant’s tenancy. Once the tenancy is terminated an eviction action can then be filed based on the termination of the tenancy.
T
#37 by Jenny on April 11th, 2012
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What is the amount of reasonable time that I can expect a response from my landlord when a request was made for a copy my lease agreement? Do landlords have a ‘reasonalb’e amount of time in which they are obligated to respond to resonable requests made by tenants?
#38 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on April 11th, 2012
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Wisconisn law does not address how long a landlord has to give a tenant a copy of the rental documents. Put your request in writing and follow up on it, is all I can reccomend.
#39 by Krista on April 13th, 2012
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Just curious if you have given any thought or have any opinion on how 2011 Wisconsin Act 143 will affect commercial landlords who use a letter of credit as security for the lease rather than a cash security deposit. Will the same withholding restrictions and return deadlines that apply to a cash security deposit apply to a letter of credit and/or proceeds thereof?
#40 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on April 16th, 2012
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Krista — that is a great quetion. I would argue that since LL is not actually holding any money of Tenant that 704.28(4) re: the timing for return of security deposit does not apply. The statute reads: ” a landlord shall deliver or mail to a tenant the full amount of any security deposit paid by tenant …” Under your scenario, the tenant hasn’t paid a security deposit.
That is just my opinion and I could be wrong. To be safe you could always comply with the time constraints so this is a non-issue.
#41 by Susan on April 18th, 2012
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In your subsection “roommates” you state that if one lease signed by more than one tenant does not say joint and several liabilty, it’s not worth the paper its written on, why is that?
#42 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on April 18th, 2012
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Because it is the “joint and several” language that has the power. The landlord can choose to collect from just one tenant (the one with money or the co-signor) for instance and ignore the other tenant that is not collectible. This language also allows a landlord to negotiate a resolution with the collectible tenant and ignore the non-collectible tenant.
I believe that any lease that doesn’t have that language is worth much less than a lease that includes it. So such it is one sentence it should be included in all leases.
If your lease doesnt have that language an argument can be made that you could only collect a percentage of the damages or rent from the collectible tenant (50% if 2 tenants, 33.33% if three tenants etc) and most likley nothing from the uncollectible tenant.
#43 by Carol Wouters on April 26th, 2012
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Thanks so much for taking the time to work on this blog! I’ve searched and searched for an answer to this question, but can’t find a definitive answer. The story, and then the question: When the complex where I reside was sold, I was in a rent hold-over situation as of 12/01/12 because a signed copy of a two-year lease I signed in September 2011 was never given to me. When the new property manager contacted me about it, they said they would not accept that lease because it had gone unsigned. I decided to move, and signed a two month lease 03/01/12 commencing 04/01/12. I did not receive a copy of that lease when rent was due for April so I paid the previous, lower amount. When contacted about it, I said I paid that amount because I never received a signed copy of the new lease. They said they mailed it, and showed me that the yellow copy (i.e., my copy) was not in the file. Hmm. I figured I had somehow missed that, so I paid the additional money. Well, they mailed it the previous day, one day after the rent is considered late; I received it in the mail the day after I paid the additional money. Here’s the question: If the signed copy of the new lease was not returned to me before the commencement of the lease period, am I still liable for the new rent amount for the full month of April? Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
–Carol
#44 by Linda on April 26th, 2012
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I’m looking for legal docs regarding rent to own. I have some tenants in a single family house that I currently rent to them. They’re good tenants, but went through some problems a few years ago and probably can’t get a traditional loan at this time. I’d like to sell the house. I’m not really making much money on it and they’d like to buy it.
I don’t own the house out right, so a land contract won’t work. Rent to own seems like a good solution for both of us. I did check Wisconsin Legal Blank, but didn’t find any rent/lease to own documents. Did I miss them? Is there something there I can use instead?
#45 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on April 26th, 2012
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Carol — Thanks for your kind words. To answer your question, a signed agreement is a signed agreement regardless of whether the landlord gives you a copy of the agreement or not. I’m certainly not saying that your landlord shouldn’t have given you a copy immediately. However an agreement does not just become enforceable once you receive it. It becomes enforceable upon signing.
#46 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on April 26th, 2012
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Linda — One point you make causes me some concern. If you do not own the property outright you cannot enter into a lease with option to buy either (just like you cant enter into a landl contract). So that issue needs to be dealt with.
No, you did not miss anything. There is not lease with option to buy contract sold at WLB. the reason is becasue one (1) there are too many varioation for lease options, (2) you really should consult with a lawyer or someone who has done them before and not rely on a form as there are too many chances to make mistakes, (3) there has not been much request for them
I reccomend that you use the rental agreement sold at WLB and then retain an attorney to assist you in drafting the option contract. They really should be two seperate documents anyhow.
T
#47 by Linda on April 27th, 2012
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Thanks so much for the response regarding my questions about rent to own. This site has been invaluable.
Linda
#48 by B on April 28th, 2012
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Where would I find rental ordinances for the city of Wauwatosa? Basically, someone in my neighborhood rented their house to five 21 year-old males who are causing my family and my neighbors all kinds of grief with their high-traffic, loud parties, public urination and foul language, as well as the latest incident: a fist fight in the street at 1 a.m. I will be calling the city on Monday but thought perhaps you could ease ease my mind before then.
#49 by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. on April 30th, 2012
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I’m not aware of Wauwatosa having any rental ordinances. But if they had them you would look at the City’s website.
The violations that the tenants are engaging in would most likley violate their lease and state statutes cover most of that.
You should contact the landlord and tell him/her/it about the problems. Most landlords want to know if their tenants are disrupting the neighborhood and will do something about it.
Good luck