Wisconsin legally requires landlords to meet certain “habitability” requirements for all rental properties. This means that they’re responsible for providing a property that meets specific health and safety standards and for fixing issues that violate them.
Wisconsin Implied Warranty of Habitability
In Wisconsin, the implied warranty of habitability means that a landlord must provide and maintain a safe and habitable rental property. “Implied” means the requirement applies whether or not the lease agreement specifically says so and even if the lease tries to waive the obligation.
Examples of clear habitability violations include:
- Exposed electrical wiring.
- A pipe leaking human waste.
- A broken front doorknob that won’t lock.
However, the implied warranty of habitability does not guarantee that anything at the property will be pretty, clean, new or issue-free, so it doesn’t cover things like peeling carpet or dents in a wall. It only guarantees basic health and safety.
Landlord Responsibilities in Wisconsin
Note: Check local city/county laws and ordinances for additional requirements. Where there’s a local housing code, it usually takes priority over the requirements in state law. Additionally, for rural rentals that aren’t subject to a local housing code, Wisconsin makes tenants responsible for most lower cost repairs.
| Item | Has To Provide? | Has To Fix / Replace? |
| Air Conditioning / Heating | Only Heating | Only Heating |
| Hot Water | Yes | Yes |
| Kitchen Appliances | No | Only If Provided |
| Washer & Dryer | No | Only If Provided |
| Smoke/CO Detectors | Yes | Yes |
| Window Coverings | No | No |
| Light Fixtures | No | No |
| Landscaping | No | Sometimes |
| Garbage Removal | Not Addressed | Not Addressed |
| Garbage Pickup | Not Addressed | Not Addressed |
| Mold | N/A | Yes |
| Pest Control | No | N/A |
| Pest Infestations | N/A | Sometimes |
| Water Leaks | N/A | Usually |
| Clogs | N/A | Usually |
Landlord Responsibilities for Heating & Air Conditioning in Wisconsin
Wisconsin landlords must provide heating during winter for rental properties. They don’t have to provide air conditioning, but they do have to fix it if it’s provided.
Are Landlords Required to Provide Air Filter Replacements in Wisconsin?
Wisconsin landlords don’t have to replace things like air filters unless provided heating or cooling equipment won’t work otherwise.
Landlord Responsibilities for Plumbing in Wisconsin
Wisconsin landlords must provide and maintain plumbing in reasonable working condition, including sewage disposal.
Are Landlords Required To Provide Hot Water in Wisconsin?
Wisconsin landlords must provide and maintain running hot and cold water for rental properties.
Are Landlords Responsible for Fixing Clogged Drains & Toilets in Wisconsin?
Wisconsin landlords must fix clogs the tenant didn’t cause, which keep the plumbing from being in reasonable working condition.
Are Landlords in Wisconsin Responsible for Fixing Leaks?
Wisconsin landlords must fix leaks the tenant didn’t cause, which keep the plumbing from being in reasonable working condition.
Landlord Responsibilities for Kitchen Appliances in Wisconsin
Wisconsin landlords don’t have to provide kitchen appliances such as a dishwasher, stove, oven, microwave, or refrigerator. However, for any appliances the landlord provides, the landlord must repair damage that isn’t the tenant’s fault. An appliance that can’t be safely used violates the warranty of habitability.
Landlord Responsibilities for Electrical Issues in Wisconsin
Wisconsin landlords must furnish electric service and keep wiring, outlets, and fixtures in safe operating condition except for damage caused by the tenant. Unsafe electrical conditions violate the warranty of habitability.
Are Landlords Responsible for Replacing Light Bulbs in Wisconsin?
Wisconsin landlords are responsible for replacing light bulbs for fixtures which create a hazard to health or safety if broken (such as lights in common stairwells). They are not otherwise responsible for providing light bulbs or particular light fixtures.
Landlord Responsibilities for Garbage Removal in Wisconsin
Wisconsin landlords have unclear responsibilities regarding garbage removal. By default, the tenant must usually maintain his private premises while the landlord maintains common areas. In most cases, this means the tenant should dispose of garbage and the landlord should make removal service available.
Landlord Responsibilities for Landscaping in Wisconsin
Wisconsin landlords have no specific obligation to provide landscaping or maintain it with actions like cutting grass. They only have to deal with issues like fallen trees if they take a common area out of reasonable repair, or create a hazard to health and safety.
Landlord Responsibilities Regarding Mold in Wisconsin
Wisconsin landlords are responsible for most mold issues. While there’s no state requirement for testing, landlords must investigate and fix mold problems since they threaten health and safety. If the renter created the mold issue, a landlord can make the renter fix it, or pay for repairs.
Landlord Responsibilities Regarding Pests in Wisconsin
Wisconsin landlords are responsible for fixing pest issues the renter didn’t cause, including rats, roaches, mice, bed bugs, and ants. If the renter caused the issue, the landlord can make the renter fix it or pay the cost of repair.
Landlord Responsibilities for Windows & Window Coverings in Wisconsin
Wisconsin landlords have no specific responsibility to provide particular windows or window coverings. However, broken windows or window locks are a safety hazard that are usually the landlord’s responsibility if the tenant didn’t cause the issue.
Landlord Responsibilities for Paint in Wisconsin
Wisconsin landlords have special responsibilities regarding paint. Chipped or peeling paint might present a habitability issue. In particular, a landlord has a legal obligation to test for lead paint when any paint issues get reported in a building constructed before 1978.
Landlord Responsibilities Regarding Safety Devices in Wisconsin
Wisconsin landlords must provide and replace safety devices as necessary, including smoke alarms and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors. Tenants are responsible for checking safety devices to ensure they work. If a safety device breaks, the landlord must provide a new one within five days of written notice from the tenant.
Are Landlords Responsible for Replacing Batteries of Safety Devices in Wisconsin?
Wisconsin landlords are not specifically responsible for replacing the batteries of safety devices. However, if a safety device stops working, the tenant can give the landlord a written request and the landlord must replace the device within five days.
Landlord Responsibilities for Washers and Dryers in Wisconsin
Wisconsin landlords are not required to furnish their rental properties with a working washer and dryer. However, if they are provided, the landlord is responsible for fixing them if they stop working properly.
Renter’s Rights for Repairs in Wisconsin
Renters in Wisconsin have the right to repairs for issues they didn’t cause which affect health and safety. To exercise their right, the renter must start by notifying the landlord of the issue in writing. Repairs must be “promptly” performed.
If the landlord fails to repair the issue promptly, the renter can move out or reduce rent payments. However, the renter is not allowed to repair and deduct the cost from rent.
Sources
- 1 Wis. Stat. § 704.07(2)(a) (2022)
-
“Except for repairs made necessary by the negligence of, or improper use of the premises by, the tenant, the landlord has a duty to … 1. Keep in a reasonable state of repair portions of the premises over which the landlord maintains control. 2. Keep in a reasonable state of repair all equipment … [supplying] services that the landlord has expressly or impliedly agreed to furnish to the tenant, such as heat, water, elevator, or air conditioning. 3. Make all necessary structural repairs. 4. Except for residential premises subject to a local housing code, and except as provided in sub. (3) (b), repair or replace any plumbing, electrical wiring, machinery, or equipment furnished with the premises and no longer in reasonable working condition. 5. For a residential tenancy, comply with any local housing code applicable to the premises.”
Source Link - 2 Wis. Admin. Code § 134.08(8) (2022)
-
“[A] rental agreement is void and unenforceable if it… Waives any statutory or other legal obligation on the part of the landlord to deliver the premises in a fit or habitable condition, or to maintain the premises during the tenant’s tenancy.”
Source Link - 3 Wis. Stat. § 704.07(1) (2022)
-
“An agreement to waive the requirements of this section in a residential tenancy, including an agreement in a rental agreement, is void.”
Source Link - 4 Wis. Stat. § 704.07(3)(b) (2022)
-
“Except for residential premises subject to a local housing code, the tenant is also under a duty to keep plumbing, electrical wiring, machinery and equipment furnished with the premises in reasonable working order if repair can be made at cost which is minor in relation to the rent.”
Source Link - 5 Wis. Admin. Code § SPS 323.02 (2022)
-
“Every dwelling shall be equipped with a heating system designed in accordance with this section. Heating equipment requirements may be waived for recreational dwellings used only during the non-heating season. Where a cooling system is provided, the cooling requirements of this section shall be met.”
Source Link - 6 Wis. Admin. Code § ATCP 134.04(2)(b) (2022)
-
Required disclosures regarding habitability provide archetypal examples: “[T]he landlord shall disclose to the prospective tenant… The following conditions affecting habitability, the existence of which the landlord knows or could know on basis of reasonable inspection, whether or not notice has been received from code enforcement authorities: 1. The dwelling unit lacks hot or cold running water. 2. Heating facilities … are not [safely] capable of maintaining a temperature… of at least 67° F (19° C) during all seasons … 3. The dwelling unit is not served by electricity, or the electrical wiring, outlets, fixtures or other components of the electrical system are not in safe operating condition. 4. Any structural or other conditions in the dwelling unit or premises which constitute a substantial hazard … 5. The dwelling unit is not served by plumbing facilities in good operating condition. 6. The dwelling unit is not served by sewage disposal facilities in good operating condition.”
Source Link - 7 Boelter v. Tschantz, 323 Wis. 2d 208, 219 (Wis. Ct. App. 2009)
-
“An appliance that cannot be used as intended without creating a risk of fire or electrocution is not in reasonable working condition. Further, such a condition constitutes a ‘substantial violation . . . materially affecting the health or safety of the tenant.’”
Source Link - 8 Wis. Stat. § 704.07(3)(a) (2022)
-
“If the premises are damaged, including by an infestation of insects or other pests, due to the acts or inaction of the tenant, the landlord may elect to allow the tenant to remediate or repair the damage and restore the appearance of the premises by redecorating. However, the landlord may elect to undertake the remediation, repair, or redecoration, and in such case the tenant must reimburse the landlord for the reasonable cost thereof; the cost to the landlord is presumed reasonable unless proved otherwise by the tenant.”
Source Link - 9 Antwaun A. v. Heritage Mut. Ins. Co., 228 Wis. 2d 44, 62 (Wis. 1999)
-
“[A] duty to test for lead paint arises whenever the landlord of a residential property constructed before 1978 either knows or in the use of ordinary care should know that there is peeling or chipping paint on the rental property. Where peeling or chipping paint is present in a pre-1978 residential structure, it is foreseeable that lead paint may be present which, if accurate, would expose the inhabitants to an unreasonable risk of harm.”
Source Link - 10 Wis. Stat. § 101.645(3) (2022)
-
“The owner of a dwelling shall install a functional smoke detector in the basement of the dwelling and on each floor level except the attic or storage area of each dwelling unit. The occupant of such a dwelling unit shall maintain any smoke detector in that unit, except that if any occupant who is not the owner, or any state, county, city, village or town officer, agent or employee charged under statute or municipal ordinance with powers or duties involving inspection of real or personal property, gives written notice to the owner that the smoke detector is not functional the owner shall provide, within 5 days after receipt of that notice, any maintenance necessary to make that smoke detector functional.”
Source Link - 11 Wis. Stat. § 101.647(3)(a) & (b) (2022)
-
“(a) The owner of a dwelling shall install a functional carbon monoxide detector in the basement of the dwelling and on each floor level except the attic, garage, or storage area of each dwelling unit. … Except as provided under par. (b), the occupant of the dwelling unit shall maintain any carbon monoxide detector in that unit. This paragraph does not apply to the owner of a dwelling that has no attached garage, no fireplace, and no fuel-burning appliance.
“(b) If any occupant … or any person authorized … [for] inspection of real or personal property, gives written notice to the owner that the carbon monoxide detector is not functional, the owner shall provide, within 5 days after receipt of that notice, any maintenance necessary to make that carbon monoxide detector functional.”
Source Link - 12 Raymaker v. American Family Mut, 293 Wis. 2d 392, 401 (Wis. Ct. App. 2006)
-
“WIS. STAT. § 704.07(2)(a)3 implies that the landlord will have some notice of the defect — latent or obvious — so that he or she can evaluate whether a repair is, in fact, a necessary repair.”
Source Link - 13 Wis. Stat. § 704.21(2) (2022)
-
“Notice by the tenant or a person in the tenant’s behalf must be given under this chapter by one of the following methods:
“(a) By giving a copy of the notice personally to the landlord or to any person who has been receiving rent or managing the property as the landlord’s agent, or by leaving a copy at the landlord’s usual place of abode in the presence of some competent member of the landlord’s family at least 14 years of age, who is informed of the contents of the notice;
“(b) By giving a copy of the notice personally to a competent person apparently in charge of the landlord’s regular place of business or the place where the rent is payable;
“(c) By mailing a copy by registered or certified mail to the landlord at the landlord’s last-known address or to the person who has been receiving rent or managing the property as the landlord’s agent at that person’s last-known address;
Source Link
“(d) By serving the landlord as prescribed in s. 801.11 for the service of a summons.” - 14 Ledvina v. Puksich, 687 N.W.2d 548 (Wis. Ct. App. 2004)
-
“If the premises become untenantable because of damage by fire, water, or other casualty [including landlord’s pervasive interference with possession; see Ledvina v. Puksich, 687 N.W.2d 548 (Wis. Ct. App. 2004)] … the tenant may remove from the premises unless the landlord… [promptly] eliminate[s] the health hazard or the substantial violation … [or] if the inconvenience to the tenant by reason of the nature and period of repair, rebuilding, or elimination would impose undue hardship on the tenant. … [If] the condition … substantially affects the use and occupancy of the premises, rent abates … [but may not] be withheld in full, if the tenant remains in possession. If the tenant justifiably moves out under this subsection, the tenant is not liable for rent after the premises become untenantable … This subsection is inapplicable if the damage or condition is caused by negligence or improper use by the tenant.” Wis. Stat. § 704.07(4) (2022)
Source Link - 15 Raymaker v. American Family Mut, 293 Wis. 2d 392, 407 & n.4 (Wis. Ct. App. 2006)
-
“Section 704.07(4) provides the tenant with the remedy of rent abatement if the land-lord fails to fulfill his repair duties and to the extent the tenant is deprived of use of the premises, but § 704.07 does not provide a private cause of action… This only means that a violation of the statute, in and of itself, is not an independent or automatic basis for suit. We do not intend to extinguish any other causes of action.”
Source Link
