By: Kirsten Fagerland Pezewski, Pezewski Law Offices, S.C.
March 5, 2025
Did you know that the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council offers FREE training seminars for FAIR HOUSING issues?
The MMFHC currently has scheduled a Milwaukee seminar on Saturday, March 8, 2025 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and a Wauwatosa seminar on Friday, June 6, 2025 from 2:00 p.m. through 4:30 p.m. Attendees must register in advance. You can register online:
Milwaukee: https://tinyurl.com/MKEFairHousingSpring2025
Wauwatosa: https://tinyurl.com/TosaFHTrainingJune2025
Why attend? The MMFHC website says that the seminars cover a wide range of fair housing topics, including:
Over the years, I’ve had many clients with many questions about Emotional Support Animals and other fair housing topics. This is a great opportunity to bring your questions and hear directly from the Fair Housing Council.
The MMFHC link for 2025 training is: Free Fair Housing Training for Housing Providers - 2025 Check the site for future additional training opportunities.
NOTICE THAT THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE: The information in this blog post is provided for general informational purposes only. The information contained in this post should not be construed as legal advice from Rental Property Association of WI, Inc. or its individual author. Please seek appropriate legal or professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances that you may have at issue from a lawyer licensed to practice law in your state or jurisdiction if you wish to obtain legal advice about any matter.
March 3, 2025
The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced on March 2, 2025 that it will not enforce any penalties or fines associated with the beneficial ownership information reporting rule under the Corporate Transparency Act and its existing regulatory deadlines. The Department also stated that it will also not enforce any penalties or fines against U.S. citizens or domestic reporting companies or their beneficial owners after the forthcoming rule changes take effect.
The Treasury Department states that it will issue a proposed rulemaking that will narrow the scope of the rule to foreign reporting companies only.
You can follow this link to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s notice here: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0038.
Please be sure that you are working with your accountant and/or attorney to monitor the status of the BOI reporting requirements for your own organizations, and that you understand the requirements and penalties for failure to comply with the CTA.
Topic: How to Pass a HQS Inspection
When: March 18, 2025 at 10:00am
REGISTER HERE
By Dawn Anastasi, RPA Board Member
This morning I attended the Annual Landlord Breakfast hosted by the Havenwoods Neighborhood Partnership.
The event was moderated by JeTaun Taylor, the Community & Safety Director for the Havenwoods Neighborhood Partnership.
The primary speaker was Attorney Tristan Pettit, who spoke about the Koble case and gave updates to the attendees.
Also in attendance were a panel of city personnel, including:
Attendees were treated to a continental breakfast and after the main presentation by Tristan Pettit, were able to have a Q&A session with Tristan and the entire panel.
It was an informative event, and I highly encourage RPA members to attend the next Landlord Breakfast.
February 20, 2025
The federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network announced on February 18, 2025 that beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) are once again in effect.
FinCEN states that for “the vast majority of reporting companies, the new deadline to file an initial, updated and/or corrected BOI report is now March 21, 2025.” Please follow the link below to FinCEN’s notice to read about exceptions to the general reporting deadline on March 21, 2025.
In addition, during this extension for filing, FinCEN notes that it will be assessing options to further modify deadlines, while prioritizing reporting for those entities that pose the most significant national security risks, so it continues to be important to monitor developments with this reporting requirement.
You can follow this link to FinCEN’s notice here: FinCEN Notice, FIN-2025-CTA1, 2/18/2025. Or, you can follow this link to the FinCEN website here: United States Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network | FinCEN.gov
Because of the harsh penalties for failing to comply with the CTA and reporting requirements (criminal penalties of up to two years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000 and/or civil penalties of $591 per day increased annually by inflation) it’s very important to continue to monitor the status of the Corporate Transparency Act and its reporting requirements and how those requirements may affect your business entities.
I attended the Property Management Panel held by the Milwaukee County Housing Services Division. The moderator was Alexi Millard, Landlord Coordinator.
The panelists:
Here are some of the questions that came up during the panel and the answers from the panelists.
What trends are you seeing in the rental housing market?
What percentage of property values are owners charging for rent?
What has been your experiences working with the Rent Assistance Program?
What incentives or policy changes would make participating in Rent Assistance more attractive?
Note: Owners have to register for the LIFT program in order to get reimbursements for property damage.
How do you navigate issues like Late Payments when working with Rent Assistance?
How do you navigate inspections when working with Rent Assistance?
How do you handle tenant retention and reduce turnover?
Next Town Hall Topic: How to Pass a HQS Inspection
March 18th at 10:00am
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has accepted Koble for review!
February 16, 2025
On February 12, 2025, the Wisconsin Supreme Court accepted the matter of Koble Investments v. Elicia Marquardt, 2022AP000182, for review. It has been a long wait to see whether this case would be reviewed. The Petition for Review was filed by attorneys for Koble Investments on May 23, 2024.
After the filing of the Petition for Review, Rental Property Association of Wisconsin, Inc., and its partner organizations (Wisconsin Realtors Association, Apartment Association of Northeast Wisconsin, Inc., Fox Valley Apartment Association, Inc., and Kenosha Landlord Association, Inc.) filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief, together with a supplement to the original brief. The amicus brief was filed with the Court on June 6, 2024.
The amicus brief argued to the court that the damages awarded in the Koble case by the Court of Appeals were not correct because the Court of Appeals:
· Incorrectly applied the Wisconsin Consumer Act to residential leases
· Ignored the periodic tenancy that existed despite the allegedly voided lease
· Incorrectly held that the tenant’s rent payments were a pecuniary loss
· Failed to require the tenant to show a causal connection between the violation and purported harm
The purpose of the amicus brief was to explain to the Supreme Court why it should grant the landlord’s petition for review, and the Court has granted the petition for review. Now, the Court of Appeals decision will be reviewed, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court will have the opportunity to change or modify the law made by the decision of the Court of Appeals.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has set a briefing schedule for the parties. Koble’s brief is due March 14, 2025, and the tenant’s attorney’s brief is due 20 days after the Koble brief. Koble will have 10 days to file a brief in reply. When briefs are filed, the Court will most likely set this matter for oral arguments. The RPA does not expect a decision is likely to be issued prior to August of 2025.
RPA and its partner organizations are considering filing additional amicus briefs.
Sharing an event from the Havenwoods Neighborhood Partnership
Event Details:
Date: Thursday, February 20, 2025
⏰ Time: 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Location: Wisconsin Country Club, 6200 W Good Hope Rd, Milwaukee, WI 53223
Cost: $10 per person includes continential breakfast
Monthly virtual information sessions for housing providers will be held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month from 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. CST.
Details on the next session:
Date: Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Prefer to call-in only (no video)?
Message from HACM Regarding Backlog
We are aware that there is a backlog of work, and we have assembled a team to address this backlog. We plan to have all late annual re-examinations addressed by May 31, 2025, and the Housing Assistance Payments made by HACM on behalf of your HCV tenant(s) will continue during this period and not be affected. We thank you in advance for your patience during this time as we work diligently to get the backlog cleared.
New Call Center
To improve customer service and efficiency, a new Call Center has been implemented for the HCV Program that includes more options for assistance and a ticketing system for tracking inquiries. Not only can HCV participants and housing providers call the HCV Program office at 414-286-5650 to speak with a HACM representative during standard business hours (Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), but they can also email hcvsupport@hacm.org to create a ticket that will be routed to the appropriate staff for assistance.
Housing providers can continue to contact Stephen Fendt, Outreach Coordinator, directly with questions and concerns.
However, please send all time-sensitive materials (i.e., 30-day quit or pay notices, rent increases, RTAs for new tenants) to hcvsupport@hacm.org for processing and refer any of your HCV tenants to the Call Center for support with recertification, income adjustments, etc.
Inspection Scheduling
A new inspection scheduling process has been established to provide additional notice for upcoming appointments. In addition to the biennial inspection appointment letter sent to you via U.S. Mail, you will now also receive several automated calls prior to the inspector's arrival at the unit — 2 weeks, 24 hours and 1 hour.
The phone number called will be the number we have on file for your account, so please make sure you keep that number updated through the Landlord Portal.
You're invited to attend a roundtable discussion for owners and managers of rental housing in Wauwatosa:
Agenda:
To register email Opportunity@fairhousingwisconsin.com
or call 414-278-1240.
Zoom link for virtual attendance will be provided upon request.
BECOME A MEMBER - JOIN TODAY!
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