Leaving Because Of A Threat
Wis. Stat. 704.16 — ending a tenancy on an injunction or complaint, and the locks changed within 48 hours
A Wisconsin residential tenant may end the tenancy and move out when the tenant or the tenant's child faces an imminent threat of serious physical harm from another person by staying, and the tenant gives the landlord notice the statutory way with a certified copy of one of these:
- A domestic abuse injunction protecting the tenant, or a child abuse injunction protecting the tenant's child.
- A harassment injunction based on conduct that would be stalking, or on an attempt or threat of it.
- A condition of release ordering the person not to contact the tenant.
- A criminal complaint alleging the person stalked the tenant or the tenant's child.
- A criminal complaint filed after the person's arrest for a domestic abuse offense against the tenant.
A certified copy of a harassment injunction based on sexual assault, or of a criminal complaint alleging sexual assault of the tenant or the tenant's child, is enough on its own.
Rent ends after the following month. The tenant is not liable for rent after the end of the month following the month the tenant gives the notice or moves out, whichever is later, subject to the landlord's duty to mitigate.
Locks within 48 hours. On the tenant's request with a certified copy of one of those documents, the landlord changes the locks, or permits the tenant to, within 48 hours. The tenant pays for it, and gives the landlord a key within a reasonable time if the tenant changed them. When the person named in the document is also a tenant of the same unit, the landlord has to change the locks only if the document orders that person to avoid the residence or not to contact the requesting tenant.
A landlord may end the tenancy of a tenant who threatens another tenant in the same building or community and is named in such an order or complaint, on written notice of at least 5 days, which the tenant can contest in the eviction action.
Sources for this section (1)
- Wis. Stat. 704.16 — Termination of tenancy for imminent threat of serious physical harm; changing locks
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Wisconsin attorney.