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Tristan’s Landlord-Tenant Law Blog

Archive of: City of Milwaukee

GUEST POST: Is the Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin Against the City of Milwaukee?

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in AASEW, City of Milwaukee / Comments

Is the Apartment Association against the City of Milwaukee?After a recent meeting I received an email from an irate member who was offended by some of my commentary regarding the city of Milwaukee, it seemed the association had an anti-Milwaukee tone to its messages. Having committed much of my career to making Milwaukee, especially its central core, a better place to live I was initially surprised by the feedback, ...

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GUEST POST: The Importance of Rentals In Milwaukee

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Foreclosures, City of Milwaukee / Comments

Below is a very thought provoking guest post from fellow blogger (and friend and fellow AASEW Board Member) Tim Ballering:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Journal is reporting:Over the next three years, Barrett said raze orders in the city are expected to grow to 1,600 homes, with a cost of $24 million.  ”We have a very severe problem right now,” Barrett said.No kidding we have a “severe problem ”  This a problem that continues to ...

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Milwaukee's Amended Smoke Alarm Ordinance To Take Effect June 1, 2013.

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in AASEW, Legislation, Smoke Detectors / Comments

On November 8, 2012, Milwaukee's Common Council passed a revised smoke alarm ordinance by a vote of 13 to 2.Effective June 1, 2013, all battery-operated smoke alarm must be powered by 10-year or more non-removable (sealed) batteries.  Compliance with this requirement must be met when replacing any current battery operated smoke alarm after June 1st next year or by October 1, 2017 -- whichever is sooner.  ...

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New Milwaukee Smoke Alarm Ordinance To Require Sealed Lithium Battery Units In Residential Rental Housing

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Legislation, Smoke Detectors / Comments

The City of Milwaukee has introduced a change to the residential smoke alarm ordinance.  If passed, the revised ordinance will require the use of sealed smoke alarm units with 10 year lithium batteries in all city residential rental housing.  The proposed ordinance would require landlords to install the sealed unit when replacing a current removable-battery unit or by October 1, 2022, whichever occurs sooner.In is unknown what the impetus behind ...

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For Those of You Who Thought The Installation of A Smoke Detector Was Simple . . . READ THIS.

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in City of Milwaukee, Smoke Detectors / Comments

AASEW Board member Tim Ballering wrote the City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services (DNS) back in June to ask for clarification about the proper placement of smoke detectors in his residential rental units in the city of Milwaukee.Ballering was prompted to write to DNS becasue he felt there was some confusion among DNS inspectors as to where smoke detectors should be installed.Below is the entire text of Ballering's email ...

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New Report States What Landlords Already Know - That Milwaukee's Regulations Hurt Businesses

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in Investing In Rental Property, City of Milwaukee / Comments

This past weekend I read a very interesting report which was drafted by the Institute for Justice as part of its City Study Series entitled Unhappy Days for Milwaukee Entrepeneurs: Brew City Regulations Make It Hard For Businesses To Achieve the High Life.The report is 40 pages long (excluding footnotes) but I encourage everyone to read it.  The report touches on the following issues:- How the city rigidly restricts ...

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Business Journal Article Addresses Fallout of the City's RRI Ordinance To Date

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in DNS, City of Milwaukee, Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) Program / Mandatory Rental I / Comments

I was recently interviewed by Business Journal reporter Sean Ryan regarding the fallout of the dismissal of three landlords' lawsuit against the City of Milwaukee regarding the unconstitutionality of its Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) program.  My most recent post on the subject can be read here.On October 1, 2010, The Business Journal published  its article entitled "Judge Upholds Milwaukee Home Inspection Program.  Reporter Sean Ryan spoke with the ...

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Landlords Lose Lawsuit

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in City of Milwaukee, Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) Program / Mandatory Rental I / Comments

On Wednesday, September 22, 2010, Judge Timothy Witkowiak denied three landlords' motion for summary judgment against the City of Milwaukee and granted the City's cross motion for summary judgment against the landlords, with regard to constitutionality of the city's new RRI ordinance.  This ruling effectively ended the lawsuit.The lawsuit dealt with the City's new Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) program/ordinance that went into effect on January 1, 2010.  The RRI ordinance requires ...

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FREE Seminar on Evictions - Saturday, August 14th

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in AASEW, City of Milwaukee, Seminars / Comments

I will be presenting a free seminar on the topic of evictions for the City of Milwaukee's Landlord Training Program on Saturday, August 14th.  I am presenting this seminar on behalf of the Apartment Association of Southeastern Wisconsin (AASEW). The Seminar will run from 9 am - 12 noon and will be held at Alverno College's Wehr Theater which is located at 3441 S. 39th Street.  I was informed that there ...

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CITY'S MOTION TO DISMISS LANDLORDS' LAWSUIT DENIED BY THE COURT - LAWSUIT CONTINUES

Posted by Tristan R. Pettit, Esq. in City of Milwaukee, Residential Rental Inspection (RRI) Program / Mandatory Rental I / Comments

On May 21, 2010, Judge Timothy Wotkowiak, denied the City of Milwaukee's motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by three Milwaukee landlords who sued the city as a result of its newly enacted ordinance requiring mandatory rental inspections of rental housing in two areas of the city.For background information on the ordinance that went into effect on January 1, 2010, please read my November 24, 2009 post.  For background information on the ...

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