Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Wisconsin

Nobody should take part in a WI real estate closing without legal representation; there are simply too much which can go wrong and too many other professionals who profit only if the deal is closed and who are therefore all too eager to provide bad advice in order to make the deal go through. If you review your purchase contract in detail, however, you may find the answer to your question, since it is addressed in the standard WI Realtor's Association Offer to Purchase form. In many transactions, the current year's assessment controls, if that is available, and the previous year's assessment is the "fall back" source of the tax proration rate if a current assessment is unavailable. New construction, however, is trickier, since the value (and therefore the tax amount) will increase dramatically once the property is re-assessed with the new structure on it. My comments here are not intended as legal advice unless you subsequently retain me and we revisit this issue.