Dane County Tenants Lose Rights Starting Today

December 21, 2011 7:43 am

Tenant Resource Center: Ready for Your Questions! Thanks to the Wisconsin Realtors Association and the Apartment Association of South Central Wisconsin lobbying efforts, tenants in Madison, Fitchburg and Dane County are losing many rights starting today due to SB107 or 2011 Wis. Act 108.. Some of the changes don’t make much sense, don’t seem to benefit landlords or in some cases have the opposite impact you might expect.

In November, the Assembly passed SB107, wiping out many tenant protections in Dane County, Fitchburg and the City of Madison. Today, the law goes into effect. The changes will likely result in the following for these municipalities and the county:

– Landlords could require you to make three times the amount of your rent in income, or apply other minimum income standards. .
– Landlords may deny people housing based on an arrest or conviction record, no matter how old and even if it has nothing to do with housing.
– Landlords can require tenants to give them their social security number, requiring tenants to risk identity theft and making it difficult for international students, visiting staff and professors and others to find housing.
– Security deposits will no longer be limited to one month’s rent in Madison and Fitchburg. Landlords are already asking some tenants to provide 4 months rent in advance to be accepted.
– Landlords will no longer be required to use check-in and check-out forms, to take pictures of damages to the apartment, or pay interest on deposits in Madison and Fitchburg, and tenants can not longer sue for triple (only double) damages for violations of other laws.
– In Madison the landlord can show and re-rent your apartment the day after you move in.
– In Madison the landlord will have to give 24 hours notice to enter for inspection and to make repairs, but only 12 hours notice to show the apartment.

These changes are leading to confusion in the community. “Our major concern in educating the public about these changes is that landlords are under the misperception that all local Madison, Fitchburg and Dane County laws went away, when in fact it is a random handful of rights.” said Brenda Konkel, Executive Director of the Tenant Resource Center. “And with decreased funding, it is difficult to devote the resources necessary to getting the word out.”

“The major impact of this ordinance will be that lower income people, who are already struggling in a tight rental market will have an even harder time finding adequate housing.” said Heidi Wegleitner, Tenant Resource Center Board President.

The Tenant Resource Center has updated its website in English and Spanish and all the brochures in English are updated. We are updating other written materials and are planning some community trainings in January, if you would like to sign up for them you can call 608-257-0143. (608-257-0006 for housing counseling.) A summary of the changes can be found on our website.

Landlords who want to sign the landlord pledge can do so by contacting Colin Gillis at colinrgillis@gmail.com.

The Tenant Resource Center is a nonprofit, membership organization dedicated to promoting positive relations between rental housing consumers and providers throughout Wisconsin. By providing information and referrals, education about rental rights and responsibilities, and access to conflict resolution, we empower the community to obtain and maintain quality affordable housing. Funding comes from Dane County, the City of Madison, Associated Students of Madison (UW Madison Student Government) and Community Shares of Wisconsin, individual donations and seminar fees and sales of books.