Bill affects tenant, landlord rights

Talk about it

A Wisconsin Senate committee held a public hearing the morning of Wednesday, June 8, on a bill opponents say would wipe out decades of protections for renters.

The Republican bill would prohibit cities from limiting a landlord’s ability to use income and credit records, criminal histories, and rental histories to determine whether to admit or keep tenants.

The bill would also eliminate local ordinances that restrict the showing and leasing of apartments while existing tenants are in them. Supporters say the bill ends decades of regulations that have gone too far.

Senate Republican Frank Lasee of De Pere says property owners are responsible for the criminal activities of their tenants, so it only makes sense to let them consider those tenants’ previous records.

But Brenda Konkel of Madison’s Tenant Resource Center says a big chunk of progress in affordable housing would be wiped out under the measure. It was introduced the week before Memorial Day, and Madison Mayor Paul Soglin says it tramples upon decades of thought into Madison’s fair housing ordinances.

Soglin said the state’s trying to take over things that should be handled locally, and he wants quote, “an extensive deliberative process so that cities throughout Wisconsin could discuss it.”

An aide to Senate Republican Dale Schultz of Richland Center says his boss could have rammed the changes through in the budget process, but he didn’t so that communities would have some time to talk about it.

Tags: wisconsin, government, home