704.40 Remedies available when tenancy dependent upon life of another terminates. (1) Any person occupying premises as tenant of the owner of a life estate or any person owning an estate for the life of another, upon cessation of the measuring life, is liable to the owner of the reversion or remainder for the reasonable rental value of the premises for any period the occupant remains in possession after termination of the life estate. Rental value as used in this section has the same meaning as rental value defined in s. 704.27. (2) The owner of the reversion or remainder can remove the occupant in any lawful manner including eviction proceedings under ch. 799 as follows: (a) If the occupant has no lease for a term, upon terminating the occupant’s tenancy by giving notice as provided in s. 704.19; (b) If the occupant is in possession under a lease for a term, upon termination of the lease or one year after written notice to the occupant given in the manner provided by s. 704.21 whichever occurs first, except that a farm tenancy can be terminated only at the end of a rental year. (3) The occupant must promptly after written demand give information as to the nature of the occupant’s possession. If the occupant fails to do so, the reversioner or remainderman may treat the occupant as a tenant from month-to-month.
Updated 23-24 Wis. Stats.
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confess judgment against the tenant in any action arising under the rental agreement. (6) States that the landlord is not liable for property damage or personal injury caused by negligent acts or omissions of the landlord. This subsection does not affect ordinary maintenance obligations of a tenant under s. 704.07 or assumed by a tenant under a rental agreement or other written agreement between the landlord and the tenant. (7) Imposes liability on a tenant for any of the following: (a) Personal injury arising from causes clearly beyond the tenant’s control. (b) Property damage caused by natural disasters or by persons other than the tenant or the tenant’s guests or invitees. This paragraph does not affect ordinary maintenance obligations of a tenant under s. 704.07 or assumed by a tenant under a rental agreement or other written agreement between the landlord and the tenant. (8) 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. (9) Allows the landlord to terminate the tenancy of a tenant based solely on the commission of a crime in or on the rental property if the tenant, or someone who lawfully resides with the tenant, is the victim, as defined in s. 950.02 (4), of that crime. (10) Allows the landlord to terminate the tenancy of a tenant for a crime committed in relation to the rental property and the rental agreement does not include the notice required under s. 704.14. History: 2007 a. 184; 2011 a. 143; 2013 a. 76. A lease that prohibited the “use of the premises for an unlawful purpose” and did not include the notice of domestic abuse protections required by s. 704.14 was void and unenforceable under sub. (10). The fact that the relevant lease provision may have been valid under s. 704.17 (3m) had no impact on whether that same provision violated the distinct requirements under sub. (10). Koble Investments v. Marquardt, 2024 WI App 26, 412 Wis. 2d 1, 7 N.W.3d 915, 22-0182. A provision requiring the tenant to pay for professional carpet cleaning, in the absence of negligence or improper use by the tenant, does not render a rental agreement void under sub. (8). Because routine carpet cleaning is not a statutorily-imposed obligation of a landlord, assigning this responsibility to a tenant through a contractual provision does not render a rental agreement void. OAG 4-13.
History: 1979 c. 32 s. 92 (16); 1993 a. 486.