Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Wisconsin

You should pay your back rent as soon as possible and eventually look for new housing after legally terminating your tenancy if the past due repairs needed are unacceptable to you, in order to avoid an eviction suit which you landlord will almost certainly win. Past due repairs and housing code violations are not a defense in eviction suits unless you first go to court and petition to allow payment of your rents into a court supervised repair fund. Even if you win the case, as a tenant seeking new housing, there is nothing worse for you than having a past eviction case in your public court records if you ever need to rent again in the future. In WI, most court records are available within 30 seconds on the internet to anyone who has a computer and current law prohibits removing anything from most public records, even if the case was eventually dismissed. Your best bet is therefore to avoid the eviction lawsuit in the first place and settle with your landlord, because once it is started, there is no way to get rid of its tracks, even if you pay the landlord in full. .

Do not assume that I am your attorney due to this answer, but feel free to call my office in Racine (262-633-3090 or email [email protected]) for clarifications or further questions. I would not normally be taking any further action on your case without your making these additional arrangements. See me on the web at www.jayknixonlaw.com. View my past answers at http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/53401-wi-jay-nixon-1529181/answers.html?sort=recency , or http://www.lawguru.com/answers/search/attorney/jknixon.