Housing · Warranty of habitability

Warranty of Habitability in Wisconsin

What a landlord in Wisconsin must keep livable, and your remedy when they do not: whether you can withhold or escrow rent, or must use another route. This is the landlord duty behind the repair-and-deduct remedy. Cited to the statute.

Confirmedagainst Wis. Stat. § 704.07Reviewed by Cholilurrohman · July 2026

Warranty of habitability · Wisconsin

Wisconsin makes the landlord keep the premises in a reasonable state of repair under Wis. Stat. 704.07. Where an untenantable condition materially affects health or safety, rent abates to the extent the tenant is deprived of the full normal use of the premises, but the statute forbids withholding rent in full while the tenant stays in possession. In a residential lease the duty cannot be waived.

Statutory repair duty, partial rent abatement

Withhold rent?Statutory repair duty, partial rent abatement

Untenantability remedyRent abates to the extent of lost use

StatuteWis. Stat. § 704.07

What the warranty of habitability covers in Wisconsin

What the landlord must maintain, whether you can withhold or escrow rent, and the limits on the remedy.

What the law says	What it means
Landlord must keep the premises in reasonable repair	Under Wis. Stat. 704.07(2) the landlord must keep in reasonable repair the parts of the premises it controls, keep in repair the equipment it agreed to furnish such as heat, water, elevator or air conditioning, make necessary structural repairs, and, for a residential tenancy, comply with any local housing code. The duty does not cover repairs made necessary by the tenant misusing the premises.
Untenantable conditions abate the rent	Section 704.07(4) treats a premises as untenantable when it is damaged by fire, water or other casualty, or has any condition hazardous to health, or has a substantial violation of the repair duty materially affecting health or safety. Where the tenant stays and the condition materially affects health or safety or substantially affects use, rent abates to the extent the tenant is deprived of the full normal use of the premises.
Pre-lease disclosure of known code violations	Section 704.07(2)(bm) requires the landlord, before the lease or before accepting a deposit or earnest money, to disclose any building or housing code violation it actually knows of that affects the unit or a common area, presents a significant threat to health or safety, and has not been corrected. The habitability standards themselves are spelled out in Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.04(2).

Where it does not apply	What it means
No withholding rent in full while in possession	Section 704.07(4) says plainly that it does not authorize rent to be withheld in full if the tenant remains in possession. The remedy is partial abatement measured by lost use, not a right to stop paying entirely and keep living there.
Tenant-caused damage	The repair duty carves out repairs made necessary by the negligence or improper use of the premises by the tenant. Those are the tenant’s responsibility, not the landlord’s.
Nonresidential leases can contract around it	The 704.07 duties apply to a nonresidential tenancy only by default. A written provision signed by both parties can displace them entirely. That escape hatch does not exist for a residential tenant.

No federal habitability law

There is no national warranty of habitability. Whether a landlord must keep a rental livable, and what a tenant can do about a breach, is decided state by state. Wisconsin sets its repair duty by statute and fills in the specific standards through the ATCP 134 administrative code.

Residential leases cannot waive the duty

Section 704.07(1) says an agreement to waive the requirements of the section in a residential tenancy, including a term in the rental agreement, is void. That absolute bar was added by 2011 Wisconsin Act 143. The same sentence pair leaves nonresidential leases fully variable, so summaries of the statute often get one side wrong.

The 67°F figure is a disclosure trigger, not a heat rule

Wisconsin sets no heating temperature or season in the statute. The only number, 67°F, sits in ATCP 134.04(2) as a pre-lease disclosure trigger. The landlord must tell a prospective tenant if the heating cannot maintain 67°F, but that is a duty to disclose, not a standing duty to heat to that number. Air conditioning is covered only where the landlord expressly or impliedly agreed to furnish it.

In plain words

A quick key to the legal terms used on this page.

Abatement

A reduction in the rent you owe because the home was not fully livable for part of the time.

What you can do right now

Concrete, neutral steps when a rental in Wisconsin is not being kept livable. This is legal information, not legal advice.

Tell the landlord in writing
Wis. Stat. 704.07 does not set a notice deadline of its own, but written notice creates a record of when the landlord learned of the condition and what you asked to be fixed. Date it and keep a copy.
Document why the unit is untenantable
Photograph the condition and note how it affects your use of the unit. Rent abates only to the extent you are deprived of the full normal use of the premises, so evidence of how much use you lost is what sets the abatement.
Do not stop paying rent in full
If you remain in possession, section 704.07(4) bars withholding rent in full. Keep paying and claim a partial abatement, or get advice before you leave. Any local rent-abatement ordinance can only reach conditions that materially affect health or safety.
Get Wisconsin tenant help
Because the abatement is partial and the full-withholding bar is easy to trip over, get advice before acting. Wisconsin Legal Help can explain how 704.07 and the ATCP 134 standards work in your county.

Tenant help in Wisconsin

Withholding rent the wrong way can risk eviction, so a legal aid office can confirm the exact notice and escrow steps before you stop paying.

→ Wisconsin Legal Help (Housing)

This is general legal information, not legal advice. The notice, the escrow account, and what counts as uninhabitable all matter, so confirm your situation against the statute before withholding rent.

What renters in Wisconsin get wrong about habitability

Wisconsin’s habitability rule lives in a single statute, Wis. Stat. 704.07, and its most distinctive feature is buried in one sentence pair. Section 704.07(1) says an agreement to waive the section in a residential tenancy is void, making the duty absolutely non-waivable for a home renter, while the adjacent sentence leaves nonresidential leases fully variable by a signed writing. The repair duty itself is short: keep the controlled parts of the premises in reasonable repair, keep working the equipment the landlord agreed to furnish such as heat, water, elevator or air conditioning, make structural repairs, and follow any local housing code. The remedy is unusual too. When a condition makes the unit untenantable and materially affects health or safety, rent abates to the extent the tenant is deprived of the full normal use of the premises, but the statute expressly forbids withholding rent in full while the tenant stays put. The often-quoted 67°F is not a heat requirement at all. It sits in the ATCP 134.04(2) administrative code as a duty to disclose a heating shortfall before the lease, not a standing duty to heat to that temperature.

Common questions

Does Wisconsin have a warranty of habitability?

Yes, framed as a repair duty. Wis. Stat. 704.07 requires the landlord to keep the premises in a reasonable state of repair, keep furnished equipment like heat and water working, make structural repairs, and comply with any local housing code. The specific habitability standards are set in the ATCP 134.04(2) administrative code.

Can I withhold rent in Wisconsin for a bad condition?

Not in full while you stay in the unit. Section 704.07(4) abates rent to the extent you are deprived of the full normal use of the premises when a condition materially affects health or safety, but it plainly bars withholding rent in full if you remain in possession. The remedy is a partial reduction, not a total stop.

Can a Wisconsin lease waive the repair duty?

Not for a residential tenant. Section 704.07(1) says an agreement to waive the requirements of the section in a residential tenancy is void. A nonresidential lease is different and can be varied by a written provision signed by both parties.

Is 67°F the required temperature in Wisconsin?

No. That number is a disclosure trigger in ATCP 134.04(2), not a heat standard. The landlord must disclose before the lease if the heating cannot maintain 67°F, but the statute sets no standing temperature or heating season. Air conditioning is covered only if the landlord agreed to furnish it.

Primary source

→ Wis. Stat. § 704.07

Wis. Stat. § 704.07 (Wisconsin Legislature) · docs.legis.wisconsin.gov

Cholilurrohman
Every figure on this page is checked line-by-line against the current statute. Editorial standards →

Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.

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