For month-to-month, week-to-week, and leases of one year or less, Wisconsin uses a 5-day notice to pay rent or vacate. If a lease tenant defaults again within a year of an earlier notice, you can give a 14-day notice to vacate with no option to pay. Month-to-month tenants in default can also get a 14-day notice to vacate.
Step by step in Wisconsin
Confirm the tenancy type. Leases longer than one year follow different rules.
Write a notice requiring the tenant to pay rent or vacate on or before a date at least 5 days after you give it.
If this tenant already got a notice for a rent default within the past year, you can instead give a notice to vacate at least 14 days out.
Put the notice in writing and give it in a way the statute allows (s. 704.21).
If the tenant pays by the date, the tenancy continues.
Common Wisconsin mistakes to avoid
Giving fewer than 5 days.
Using a 14-day no-cure notice on a first default in a lease of one year or less.
Delivering the notice in a way s. 704.21 doesn't allow.
This is general information, not legal advice. The verified rule and official sources above control. Check the source or a local attorney for your situation.
Related Wisconsin rules
Eviction court process & timeline
The eviction summons return date is 5 to 25 days after issuance, served at least 5 days before. If possession is contested, trial must be held within 30 days of the return date.
Filing an eviction in small claims court costs $94.50 through Oct 31, 2026 ($22 filing fee + $51 court support services surcharge + $21.50 justice information surcharge). From Nov 1, 2026: $124 ($39 + $61 + $24), per 2025 Wis. Act 179. Mail service by the clerk rises from $2 to $7 per defendant. Totals are our own sums of the listed parts. Service fees are extra.
A landlord may not raise rent, cut services, sue for possession, refuse to renew, or threaten any of these if, but for retaliation, it would not happen. Protected acts include a good-faith defect complaint to an elected official or code agency, a complaint to the landlord about § 704.07 or code violations, and exercising tenancy rights. Eviction for unpaid rent is still allowed.
If a condition hazardous to health, a casualty, or a substantial code-type violation materially affects health or safety and the tenant stays, rent abates to the extent the tenant loses normal use of the unit. The statute does not authorize withholding rent in full if the tenant stays.
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