Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Wisconsin

Landlord withheld deposit past 21 day limit then sent a letter withholding deposit and charging extras fees for cleaning and damages. Is this legal?


Asked on 7/10/12, 6:44 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

JAY Nixon nixon law offices

From a legal technical point of view, everything is legal in our society until a judge or a jury says otherwise. Any pronouncement of illegality, even from a law enforcement officer, short of a judicial finding on this issue, is only a guess, and I could not possibly give you an opinion on such an issue without knowing all of the facts. You mention a 21 day limit, for example, but 21 days from what event? There have also recently been extensive changes in WI landlord tenant law. You therefore need to retain a lawyer if you are serious about pursuing this matter. In our society, nobody is likely to stand up for your legal rights but you, and if you decide not to do anything about any particular injustice which has occurred in court, it is likely to continue uninterrupted, and you will have nobody to blame for this but yourself. Please be aware that my responses to you in the public web forum do not make me your attorney and that I am not representing you or taking any action on your case. Instead, these answers are intended for public educational use only and may also contain lawyer advertising materials. Regardless of this, however, you are still welcome to contact me during business hours at my in Racine if you still have questions, or see me on the web at www.jayknixonlaw.com. For a list of my other answers on Law Guru, please see my profile link here at lawguru.com.

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Answered on 7/13/12, 6:48 am


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