Free Wisconsin Lease Termination Letter Template

A Wisconsin lease termination letter is written notice ending a periodic tenancy or a tenancy at will. Wis. Stat. § 704.19 covers both, whether the tenancy runs year-to-year, month-to-month, or on any other periodic basis by which rent is regularly payable.

Section 704.19(2)(a) makes written notice the only route, subject to three exceptions: the parties expressly agreed on another method of termination and that agreement is established by clear and convincing proof, termination was effected by a surrender of the premises, or subsection (6) applies.

Wisconsin sets 28 days rather than 30, and the date it has to land on is fixed.

Section 704.19(3) requires at least 28 days’ notice, with two carve-outs: where rent is payable on a basis less than monthly, notice at least equal to the rent-paying period is enough, and agricultural year-to-year tenancies take at least 90 days.

Section 704.19(2)(b)1 then adds the constraint people miss. A periodic tenancy can be terminated by notice only at the end of a rental period, so a Wisconsin lease termination letter names the last day of a period rather than any convenient date. For a year-to-year tenancy that means the end of the rental year, even where rent is payable more often than annually.

The contents are relaxed by comparison. Under § 704.19(4), notice must be in writing, formal or informal, and substantially inform the other party of the intent to terminate and the date of termination. Errors that do not mislead will not invalidate it, including the omission of the name of one of several landlords or tenants.

Section 704.19(5) is a genuine safety net, and it is worth knowing before you panic about a date.

Where a notice says the tenancy ends on the first day of the following rental period rather than the last day of the current one, and it was given in time to end the tenancy at the end of that period, the notice is still valid. If the tenant gave it, the landlord may require the tenant to leave on the last day of the rental period. If the landlord gave it, the tenant may stay through the last day named.

Any other inaccurate date — one that does not allow the length of time subsection (3) requires, or does not fall at the end of a rental period — leaves the notice valid but not effective until the first date that could properly have been specified. The party receiving it may instead elect to treat the date named as the legally effective one.

A tenant’s notice that names no termination date at all is also valid, effective from the first date that could properly have been specified as of the day it was given.

Notice is treated as given on a day the statute defines, not the day you write the letter, and § 704.19(7) counts that day as the first of the notice period. Mail carries a built-in lag: notice is given on the 2nd day after mailing where it is addressed to a point within the state, and on the 5th day in all other cases.

Section 704.21(2) sets out a tenant’s options:

• Personally to the landlord, or to anyone receiving rent or managing the property as the landlord’s agent, or left at the landlord’s usual place of abode with a competent family member at least 14 years old who is told what the notice contains.
• Personally to a competent person apparently in charge of the landlord’s regular place of business, or the place where rent is payable.
• By registered or certified mail to the landlord’s last known address, or to the rent-collecting agent at that person’s last known address.
• By serving the landlord as a summons is served under § 801.11.

Where there are two or more landlords or cotenants of the same premises, § 704.21(4) treats notice given to one as given to the others.

The deposit runs separately. Section 704.28(4) gives the landlord 21 days to deliver or mail the deposit less any amounts lawfully withheld, measured from the termination date where the tenant leaves on schedule. Day counts in this chapter are amended periodically, so check the current figure before you build a calendar around it.