Not legal advice. This page explains Wisconsin's rental rules in plain English, for landlords and tenants alike. Your lease and facts matter, so for your own situation talk to one of the free services below or a lawyer.
Landlord Guides
- Short-Term Rentals by TownAirbnb and VRBO rules for 15 Dane County towns: licenses, night limits and room tax.Read the Guide
- Renting Part of Your HomeA duplex you live in, a room or an ADU: Madison zoning, owner-occupant loans and taxes.Read the Guide
- Property ManagersWhen managing rentals takes a Wisconsin real estate license, and how to check one.Read the Guide
- Landlord Rules ChecklistEvery rule a new Wisconsin landlord follows, from the lease to the deposit, plus registration by town.Read the Guide
- Landlord rules checklist: every state rule a new landlord follows, from disclosures to deposits.
- Eviction in Wisconsin: notices, court and the sheriff, with a date calculator.
- Short-term rentals by town: licenses, night limits and room tax.
- Renting part of your home: a duplex you live in, a room or an ADU.
- Property managers: the license Wisconsin requires and how to check it.
Before You Rent It Out
- Disclosures before signing. Known code violations that threaten health or safety, and conditions such as no hot water or heat that can't keep living areas at 67°F, must be disclosed before a lease is signed or a deposit taken.(Wis. Stat. 704.07)(ATCP 134.04) So must utilities that aren't included in the rent.(ATCP 134.04)
- Lead paint. For housing built before 1978, federal law requires a lead disclosure, the EPA pamphlet and a warning statement with the lease.(EPA)
- Smoke and CO alarms. In apartment buildings the owner installs smoke detectors; in one- and two-family homes with a fuel-burning appliance, fireplace or attached garage, the owner installs CO alarms.(Wis. Stat. 101.145)(Wis. Stat. 101.647)
- A lease that holds up. Every residential lease needs the state's domestic abuse notice, and some clauses void the whole lease.(Wis. Stat. 704.14)(Wis. Stat. 704.44) The landlord rules checklist has the full list.
- Your own home counts as a rental too when you rent part of it. Renting part of your home covers duplexes, rooms and ADUs, and the ADU guide covers building one.
What Your Town Requires
Wisconsin caps what local governments can require of landlords. A town may require only a simple registration (contact name, address, phone and email, with a one-time fee of no more than $10 per building), and may inspect rentals only on a complaint, in a designated inspection district, under a special warrant, or where state or federal law requires.(Wis. Stat. 66.0104)
- Madison requires every rental to register an emergency contact with Building Inspection, once per parcel.(City of Madison) It has no rental license, and inspects proactively only in designated areas.(City of Madison)
- Short-term rentals are different: most towns license them. See short-term rental rules by town.
- Each town's registration or license, where one exists, is in the table on the landlord rules checklist.
The Tenant's Side
The rules are the same rules, seen from the other side of the lease. Renting in Wisconsin walks through them for tenants, and the security deposit checker and check-in sheet builder work for both sides.
Free Help
- Tenant Resource Center, a Madison nonprofit with information for tenants and landlords.(Tenant Resource Center) Rental Rights Hotline: 608-257-0006. It also offers housing counseling for both sides and mediation for disputes such as security deposits and lease violations.(City of Madison)
- Legal Action of Wisconsin: apply for free legal help at (855) 947-2529. Not everyone qualifies. Its housing work covers evictions, housing conditions and security deposits.(Legal Action of Wisconsin)
- State Bar Lawyer Referral and Information Service: (800) 362-9082. The court doesn't appoint lawyers in eviction cases.(Dane County Circuit Court)
- DATCP Consumer Protection, the state agency that enforces ATCP 134: (800) 422-7128 or DATCPHotline@wisconsin.gov.(DATCP)
- City of Madison: Building Inspection takes housing code complaints at 608-266-4551,(City of Madison) and the Department of Civil Rights takes housing discrimination complaints at 608-266-4910.(City of Madison)
Questions
Do I need a license to be a landlord in Madison?
No rental license, but Madison requires every rental to have an emergency contact registered with Building Inspection, once per parcel. It's free online. Wisconsin law limits what any city can require: a registration can ask only for a contact name, address, phone and email, with a one-time fee of no more than $10 per building.
How much does a property manager cost?
We don't publish fee figures because no official source tracks them. What the law does say: a person who leases property or collects rent for someone else for a fee generally needs a Wisconsin real estate license. See our property manager guide for how to check one.
What should I include when I estimate a rental's cash flow?
Rent, a vacancy allowance, the mortgage, property tax, insurance, repairs and upkeep, any management fee, and any utilities you pay as the owner. The calculator fills in tax and water rates for your town; the rest are your numbers.
Does a rental pay more property tax than a home I live in?
The rate is the same, but the state's lottery and gaming credit applies only to your primary residence. A rental you don't live in gets only the first dollar credit.