Green Bay landlord rules come mostly from Madison, not City Hall: Wisconsin’s Chapter 704 of the statutes and the state consumer-protection code ATCP 134 set deposits, disclosures, notices and lease terms for every apartment in the city. What Green Bay adds on top is enforcement through its housing inspectors and a chronic nuisance ordinance that can turn repeated police calls into fines and special charges on the tax bill.
The state rules are detailed and unforgiving about form; the city layer is lighter on paperwork but heavier on property-level consequences. This guide walks through both in the order an owner meets them over a tenancy.
Who rents in Green Bay and why the rules carry weight
Green Bay had 107,395 residents at the 2020 Census, and the Census Bureau’s July 1, 2024 estimate puts the city at 106,311. It is the county seat of Brown County, which grew to an estimated 273,909 people in 2024. According to Census Bureau QuickFacts for Green Bay and Brown County, the owner-occupancy rate in the city was 55.9% for 2019–2023, which means roughly 44% of occupied homes are rented. The median gross rent over the same five-year period was $904.
With rents in that range, margins per unit are modest, so a forfeited deposit claim, a void lease or a nuisance abatement plan lands directly on net operating income.
The two state sources every Green Bay owner works under
Wisconsin does not leave landlord-tenant law to municipalities. Two documents govern almost everything:
- Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 704, which covers leases, notices, deposits, entry, termination and void lease provisions.
- ATCP 134, the Residential Rental Practices rule, administered by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP), which adds detailed requirements on disclosures, earnest money, deposits and prohibited practices.
Both are available in full from the Legislature: Wisconsin’s landlord-tenant statutes in Chapter 704 and the residential rental practices rules in ATCP 134.
Wisconsin also bars local rent regulation outright. Under Wis. Stat. 66.1015, “No city, village, town or county may regulate the amount of rent or fees charged for the use of a residential rental dwelling unit,” and the same section prohibits inclusionary zoning requirements. Green Bay owners therefore set rents and renewal increases by the market and by the lease, not by a city formula. What the state regulates instead is process.
Before the lease is signed: disclosures and applications
Many tenancy problems start before move-in. ATCP 134.04 requires a landlord to disclose, before signing a lease or accepting any earnest money or deposit:
- Any known, uncorrected building code or housing code violation that presents a significant threat to the tenant’s health or safety.
- Habitability defects such as no hot or cold running water, heating that cannot keep the unit at 67°F, unsafe electrical wiring, plumbing or sewage problems, or structural hazards.
- Whether charges for water, heat or electricity are not included in rent, and how utility charges are allocated when units are not separately metered.
- In writing, the name and address of the person authorized to collect rent and manage the premises, and of the owner or an agent authorized to accept legal service. That service address must be in Wisconsin, and changes must be reported to tenants within 10 business days.
The utility allocation disclosure deserves extra care in older multi-unit buildings, where a single water meter or a shared boiler is common. If the owner bills back water or heat, the method has to be disclosed before the tenant commits.
Application fees and earnest money
The state limits what can be charged at the application stage. A landlord may charge only the actual cost of a credit check, up to $25, and cannot charge it at all if the applicant supplies a nationwide credit report less than 30 days old. The applicant must be told before the charge and must receive a copy of the report.
Earnest money deposits come with their own clock under ATCP 134.05. They cannot be taken until specific units are identified, and they must be returned by the next business day if the application is rejected or withdrawn, or if the landlord has not approved it within three business days. That window can be extended in writing, but to no more than 21 days.
Lease terms that can void the whole agreement
Wisconsin is unusual in how harshly it treats certain lease provisions. Under Wis. Stat. 704.44 and ATCP 134.08, if a residential lease contains any of the following, the entire lease is void and unenforceable by the landlord, not just the offending clause:
- Allowing the landlord to evict by self-help rather than through the court process.
- Accelerating rent or waiving the landlord’s duty to mitigate damages by re-renting.
- Requiring the tenant to pay the landlord’s attorney fees, other than costs a court awards.
- A confession of judgment.
- Relieving the landlord of liability for its own negligence.
- Waiving the landlord’s duty to keep the premises in a habitable condition.
- Penalizing a tenant for contacting police, health or safety services.
- Allowing termination because a tenant was the victim of a crime.
Every residential lease must also include the statutory “Notice of Domestic Abuse Protections” text required by Wis. Stat. 704.14, either in the lease or in an addendum. Without that notice, a lease clause allowing termination because of criminal activity is void under 704.44(10).
For an owner buying an existing building, this is the first document review to do. Leases drafted years ago, or borrowed from another state, sometimes contain an attorney-fee clause or a broad liability waiver. Under Wisconsin’s rules, those leases may not be enforceable in the way the rent roll suggests.
Nonstandard rental provisions
Some deductions and rights are allowed only if they appear in a separate document titled “NONSTANDARD RENTAL PROVISIONS.” Examples include deposit deductions for items beyond the standard list, expanded landlord entry rights, and any agreement allowing the landlord to hold a tenant’s property. The landlord must specifically identify each provision to the tenant before the lease is signed. A tenant’s signature or initials on that document creates a rebuttable presumption that the tenant agreed. Owners who charge for things like carpet cleaning at move-out need to use this format, because routine cleaning or painting cannot otherwise be deducted absent unusual damage.
Move-in, entry and day-to-day obligations
Check-in sheets and prior damage
Wis. Stat. 704.08 requires a landlord to give a new tenant a check-in sheet at move-in, and the tenant has seven days to return it with notes on existing conditions. ATCP 134.06(1) adds a related obligation: before accepting a security deposit, the landlord must tell the tenant in writing that the tenant may inspect the unit and report pre-existing damage within at least seven days after move-in, and may request a list of physical damages charged to the previous tenant’s deposit. If requested, that list must be provided within 30 days of the request or within seven days after the landlord notifies the prior tenant of deductions, whichever is later.
These documents are the evidence that later supports or defeats every deposit deduction.
Entry notice
Under ATCP 134.09(2) and Wis. Stat. 704.05(2), a landlord must give at least 12 hours’ advance notice before entering a unit, may enter only at reasonable times, and only to inspect, make repairs or show the premises. Exceptions apply when the tenant requests or consents to the entry, during a health or safety emergency, or when the tenant is absent and entry is necessary to protect the premises. The landlord must announce their presence on entering. Expanded entry rights require the nonstandard rental provisions format described above.
Late fees and self-help
ATCP 134.09(8) allows late fees only if the rental agreement provides for them, requires rent prepayments to be applied first, and prohibits charging a late fee for nonpayment of a late fee. Neither Chapter 704 nor ATCP 134 sets a statewide dollar cap on late fees, so the reasonableness of the amount is a lease drafting question. ATCP 134.09(7) separately prohibits self-help eviction: no lockouts, no utility shutoffs and no removal of a tenant’s belongings outside the court process.
Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
Wis. Stat. 101.145 places smoke detector duties on the owners of residential buildings, a definition that includes apartment houses. Detectors are required in the basement and at the head of each stairway on every floor, and in or within six feet of each sleeping area, though not in a kitchen. Tenants maintain the detectors inside their own units, but the owner must repair or replace a detector within five days of written notice. Carbon monoxide detectors are governed by Wis. Stat. 101.149 for buildings with fuel-burning appliances, forced-air furnaces fired by fuel, or certain attached garages, with detectors placed outside each sleeping area and the same five-day repair window after written notice.
Deposits: Wisconsin’s 21-day clock
Wis. Stat. 704.28 and ATCP 134.06(2) require a landlord to deliver or mail the security deposit, less any lawful deductions, within 21 days. If the tenant leaves on the date the lease ends, the clock starts that day. If the tenant leaves early, it runs from the end of the lease term or the date a replacement tenant begins paying rent, whichever applies.
If anything is withheld, the landlord must send within the same 21 days a written statement that describes each item of damage or claim and the amount withheld for each. Normal wear and tear cannot be deducted. The standard list of permitted deductions is:
- Tenant damage, waste or neglect of the premises.
- Unpaid rent.
- Unpaid utility charges for service the landlord provided but did not include in rent.
- Unpaid government utility charges the landlord becomes liable for.
- Unpaid monthly municipal permit fees assessed against the tenant.
- Any other item listed in a signed nonstandard rental provisions document.
Intentionally false claims against a deposit are prohibited under ATCP 134.06(4), and a missed deadline or vague statement is among the costliest errors an owner can make.
Notices, terminations and eviction in Brown County
Termination notices
Wis. Stat. 704.17 sets the notices a landlord uses when a tenant breaches. For a month-to-month tenant who fails to pay rent, the landlord may serve a 5-day notice to pay or vacate, or a 14-day notice to vacate. For other breaches, the choice is a 5-day notice to cure or vacate, or a 14-day notice; a repeat breach within one year allows a 14-day notice without a chance to cure. Tenants on a lease of one year or less get a 5-day notice to pay or vacate for nonpayment, and a repeated late payment within a year of an earlier notice allows a 14-day notice with no right to cure. Leases longer than one year require a 30-day notice.
Ending a month-to-month tenancy without cause requires at least 28 days’ notice under Wis. Stat. 704.19(3), or notice equal to the rental period when rent is paid less often than monthly.
The court process
Evictions in Wisconsin are handled in small claims court regardless of the amount of rent at stake, under Wis. Stat. 799.01(1)(a). For a Green Bay property, that means the Brown County circuit court’s small claims calendar. The summons return date must be set 5 to 25 days from issuance, and service must be made at least five days before the return date. If the landlord wins, the writ of restitution must be delivered to the sheriff within 30 days of issuance, and the sheriff executes it within 10 days of receiving it. The Wisconsin courts’ small claims and eviction resources include the state’s eviction guide and standard forms. Money claims in small claims are capped at $10,000.
A 2026 change to know
The Legislature amended Wis. Stat. 704.16 through 2025 Wisconsin Act 90, enacted on March 6, 2026. Section 704.16 governs lease termination by tenants who are victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking, and related lock-change duties. Owners using lease forms printed before spring 2026 should confirm they reflect the amended statute.
What Green Bay itself regulates
Housing and zoning inspection
The City of Green Bay’s Housing and Zoning Inspection division, part of Community and Economic Development, handles complaints about interior and exterior housing conditions, which residents file through the city’s online GB Services portal. The city’s housing code sits in Chapter 8 of the municipal code alongside the building code. For owners, the practical point is that a tenant complaint about heat, plumbing or structural issues can bring an inspector to the building, and the ATCP 134 disclosure duties then apply to any uncorrected violation going forward.
State limits on local rental programs
Wisconsin also caps what any municipality can do with rental registration and inspection. Wis. Stat. 66.0104 allows mandatory rental inspections only in response to a complaint or within designated districts with documented problems such as blight or high levels of code complaints. It exempts buildings less than eight years old from program inspections, gives a property that passes or corrects violations within the allowed time a five-year break from program inspections, and caps inspection fees. Registration can require only a single contact’s name, address, phone number and email, with a one-time fee of no more than $10 per building outside first-class cities. Municipalities also cannot impose their own occupancy or transfer-of-tenancy fees or add deposit and move-in inspection rules beyond ATCP 134. The full text is in the statute limiting local rental inspection and registration programs.
The Chapter 24 chronic nuisance ordinance
The city rule that most affects multifamily owners is the public nuisance ordinance in Chapter 24. According to the city’s summary of Green Bay’s chronic nuisance ordinance, a property can be declared a chronic nuisance after three or more separate police responses within any 12-month period that result in a warning, citation or arrest. Calls placed by the owner do not count toward that total.
Once a property is designated, the owner receives a certified-mail order to attend an abatement hearing. Fines can reach $2,518 per incident per day. If the owner does not follow the agreed abatement plan, the city can bill the owner for subsequent police responses and place unpaid amounts on the property as a special charge, which then follows the parcel.
Police resources for landlords
The Green Bay Police Department’s landlord-tenant resources page offers tools aimed at keeping owners from reaching that point: a Landlord Notification Form that triggers email alerts each time officers respond to an owner’s address, tenant screening guidelines, and a No Trespassing form. The department also points owners to the Apartment Association of Northeast Wisconsin for education and forms.
Applying Green Bay landlord rules day to day
Pulling the state and city layers together, a few habits separate well-run Green Bay buildings from troubled ones:
- Audit every lease form against 704.44 and ATCP 134.08. One void clause can make the whole lease unenforceable, so legacy forms deserve a line-by-line review.
- Use the nonstandard rental provisions document for any deduction, entry right or property-holding term beyond the statutory baseline.
- Calendar the 21-day deposit deadline from the correct start date for each move-out, and itemize every deduction.
- Keep check-in sheets and prior-damage lists on file for every unit, because they are the evidence in deposit disputes.
- Register for Green Bay Police call notifications at each address and track responses against the three-in-twelve-months threshold under Chapter 24.
- Fix detector complaints within five days of written notice and document the repair.
These Green Bay landlord rules also shape how a building is valued at sale. A buyer’s due diligence will look at whether leases are enforceable, whether deposits are properly held and accounted for, and whether the address has a nuisance history with the city. Our guide to selling a rental property with tenants in place covers how those documents move through a transaction, and our Green Bay market page summarizes the local apartment market. For statewide context, see the Wisconsin market overview.
