The governor issued orders today halting eviction actions (except to protect victims of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking) until May 26th. But you still will be responsible for paying your rent.
On March 12th I wrote about how there were no evictions scheduled through April 17th in Dane County.
Now there are two orders impacting tenant landlord law statewide that are of importance.
Emergency Order #12 (issued March 24th)
This order is good through April 24th unless another order is issued. See Governor’s orders here.
3. Prohibited activities. All public and private gatherings of any number of people that are not part of a single household or living unit are prohibited, except for the limited purposes expressly permitted in this Order. Nothing in this Order prohibits the gathering of members of a single household or living unit. Landlords or rental property managers shall avoid entering leased residential premises unless emergency maintenance is required.
Emergency Order #15 (issued March 27)
This order also has other provisions for mortgages and foreclosures. This order is good through May 26th.
1. Landlords are prohibited from serving any notice terminating a tenancy for failure to pay rent.
2. Landlords are prohibited from serving any notice terminating a tenancy unless the notice is accompanied by an affidavit attesting to the reasonable belief, and the basis thereof, that a failure to commence eviction proceedings will result in an imminent threat of serious physical harm to another person.
3. Landlords are prohibited from commencing a civil action of eviction unless the following conditions are met:
a) The eviction action is not based on a failure to pay rent, and
b) The judicial action seeking eviction is accompanied by an affidavit attesting that the eviction is not based on a failure to pay rent and to a reasonable belief, and the basis thereof, that a failure to proceed with the eviction will result in an imminent threat of serious physical harm to another person.
4. Landlords may not deliver a writ of restitution to the sheriff, nor may the sheriff act on eviction orders unless the following conditions are met:
a) The eviction order was not based on a failure to pay rent, and
b) The Writ of Restitution is accompanied by an affidavit attesting that the eviction is not based on a failure to pay rent and to a reasonable belief, and the basis thereof, that a failure to proceed with the eviction will result in an imminent threat of serious physical harm to another person.
5. Nothing in the above order shall be construed to affect the operation of Wis. Stat. 704.25.
6. Remote notarization is permissible for purposes of this Order.
. . .
11. No provision in this order should be construed as relieving an individual of their obligations to pay rent, make mortgage payments, or any other obligation an individual may have under a tenancy or mortgage.
This order is effective immediately and shall remain in effect for 60 days.
PLAIN LANGUAGE DESCRIPTION OF THE TWO ORDERS ABOVE
Landlords (or their staff or people hired by them) cannot
- enter apartments except for emergency maintenance
- serve any eviction notices (5, 14 or 30 day notices) for nonpayment of rent
- serve eviction notices (5, 14 or 30 day notices) for any other reason than non-payment of rent (see exception below)
- give a non-renewal notice of a month to month tenancy (see exception below)
- give notice that a lease will not automatically renew (see exception below)
- file an eviction in court (see exception below)
- bring a court order of eviction (writ of restitution) to the sheriff’s office to be served (see exception below)
Sheriff’s offices cannot
- Carry out a court order of eviction (see exception below)
EXCEPTION: As noted above, the exception to the prohibitions are IF there is a “imminent threat of serious physical harm” and the landlord is willing to sign an affidavit that they reasonably believe that to be true. The criteria of what “imminent threat of serious physical harm” constitutes are VERY specific in Wis. Stat. 705.16
HOWEVER, you still will have to pay your landlord rent, and the landlord will be able to sue you for your rent if you do not pay. #11 in the order clearly states that.
After May 26th the landlord will be able to evict you if you still owe rent. It may take a while as we expect the courts will be very backed up.
If your lease ends before May 26th and doesn’t have an automatic renewal clause, if you pay rent and the landlord accepts it, you become a month to month tenant as outlined in Wis. Stat. 704.25
