Holdover Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what Wisconsin law says, what's specific to Milwaukee - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- § 704.27 applies when a tenant stays in possession without the landlord's consent after the lease expires, after a notice of termination from either side, or after an agreed termination.
- The double figure is a floor, not a cap. Absent proof of greater damages, the landlord recovers as minimum damages twice the rental value, apportioned on a daily basis for the time the tenant remains, and nothing in the section prevents other damages.
- Rental value is what the unit might reasonably have rented for, never less than what the tenant paid or owed for the prior rental period, and it includes the money value of obligations such as taxes, insurance and repairs.
- Consent changes the result. Under § 704.25(2)(c), accepting rent for any period after the lease expires is the landlord's election to hold the tenant month to month, or on the weekly or daily basis rent is computed on, unless removal proceedings have already started.
- Removal goes through the courts: § 704.44(2m) voids a lease authorizing eviction other than by chapter 799 procedures. Milwaukee's § 110-12 bars forcible entry, including changed locks and cut utilities, with a forfeiture of $25 to $500.
Understanding the Holdover Clause
A holdover clause sets the terms for the days after your lease ends and before the keys go back. In Milwaukee that paragraph sits beside a Wisconsin statute that sets a figure of its own, so the two are worth reading together.
Wis. Stat. § 704.27 reaches a tenant who stays without the landlord's consent after the lease expires, after a notice of termination from either side, or after an agreed termination. Absent proof of greater damages, the landlord recovers twice the rental value, apportioned daily, as minimum damages.
Rental value is never less than the rent paid or owed for the prior period.
Consent is the hinge. Under § 704.25(2)(c), accepting rent after the lease expires is the landlord's election to keep the tenant as a periodic tenant, unless removal proceedings have already started.
Removing a holdover goes through the courts. Milwaukee's § 110-12 adds a city forfeiture for a landlord who changes the locks or cuts utilities.
What renters assume
Wisconsin's double rent is a cap, so a landlord can never claim more than twice the rent for the days you stay.
What is actually true
The statute's figure is a floor. § 704.27 says that, absent proof of greater damages, the landlord shall recover as minimum damages twice the rental value, and that nothing in the section prevents other damages. Rental value is never less than the rent for the prior period and includes obligations such as taxes, insurance and repairs.
Eight of the 22 rows in the comparison on this page carry a 2: New York City, Miami, Chicago, Phoenix, Washington, Newark, Baltimore and Milwaukee. Fourteen of the 22 rows carry no multiplier.
The eight twos do not mean the same thing. Phoenix reads "Up to 2 months' rent (willful)", a ceiling, and Chicago "2x yearly value (willful only)".
New York City and Washington tie theirs to the tenant's own notice, Newark to the tenant's notice or willfulness, Baltimore to Baltimore law after notice, and Miami reads "2x rent (double rent)". Milwaukee reads "2x rental value (minimum damages)": the base is rental value and the two is a floor.
Of the fourteen without a multiplier, eleven labels read No multiplier. Philadelphia reads "No statutory multiplier", Austin "No cap - lease controls", and Las Vegas "No rent multiplier (3x damages)".
Plain English Version
If you stay past the end of your lease without the landlord's consent, Wisconsin lets the landlord recover the damages that causes. Without proof of more, that is at least twice the rental value for each day you stay, and rental value is never less than the rent you paid for the prior period.
If the landlord accepts rent after the lease ends, that counts as choosing to keep you as a month-to-month or other periodic tenant, unless removal proceedings had already started. Removal goes through a court, and in Milwaukee changing the locks or cutting utilities carries a city forfeiture.
Holdover Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Milwaukee, WI
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
If the Lessee retains possession of the Premises after the term of this lease expires, the Lessor may either accept further rent payments by the Lessee, in which case a month-to-month tenancy shall be created, or sue for possession; and Lessor shall be entitled to recover from Lessee all damages sustained by him as a result of Lessee's failure to vacate the Premises, including but not limited to lost rent, court costs and attorneys fees. In no case shall a holdover tenancy be created. In the event Lessee retains possession without Lessor[']s consent beyond the term of this lease, the monthly rental shall be 150% of the rental for the original term.
Quoted from the published opinion in Roth v. Dillavou, No. 2—04—0840 (Ill. App. Ct., 2d Dist., Sept. 8, 2005). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
“the Premises after the term of this lease expires, the Lessor”
The lease starts its clock at expiry. Wisconsin's section starts at three points. § 704.27 applies when a tenant remains in possession without the landlord's consent after the lease expires, after a notice of termination given by either side, or after a termination the parties validly agreed. A notice you sent yourself is one of those starting points.
“accept further rent payments by the Lessee”
Taking rent is the act Wisconsin's statute keys on too. Under § 704.25(2)(c), accepting rent for any period after the lease expires, or other conduct showing the landlord's intent to let the tenant stay, is the landlord's election to hold the tenant as a periodic tenant, unless removal proceedings have already started. Under § 704.25(2)(b) that tenancy runs month to month, or on the weekly or daily basis rent is computed on.
“court costs and attorneys fees”
This is where a holdover reaches a courtroom, and Wisconsin keeps removal there. § 704.23 and § 704.25(1) let a landlord “proceed in any manner permitted by law” to remove a holdover tenant and recover damages. § 704.44(2m) makes a residential rental agreement void and unenforceable if it authorizes eviction or exclusion other than by judicial eviction procedures under chapter 799. § ATCP 134.09(7) bars exclusion or forcible or constructive eviction outside a chapter 799 case.
“the monthly rental shall be 150%”
Here the lease names its own rate, and Wisconsin's statute names a different one. § 704.27 says that in absence of proof of greater damages the landlord “shall recover as minimum damages twice the rental value apportioned on a daily basis”. Rental value is what the unit might reasonably have rented for, never less than what the tenant paid or owed for the prior rental period, and it includes obligations such as taxes, insurance and repairs.
The clause was enforced exactly as written. Because the lease itself said no holdover tenancy would arise - only a month-to-month one - the court held the original lease terms carried straight through the post-term period, which kept the tenant's co-signer on the hook for it. One judge dissented, warning that reading it this way exposes a guarantor to open-ended liability.
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Wisconsin Law on Holdover Clause
- The double figure is a floor, not a cap. Section 704.27 says the landlord "shall, at the landlord's discretion, recover" the damages caused by the failure to vacate, that "In absence of proof of greater damages, the landlord shall recover as minimum damages twice the rental value apportioned on a daily basis for the time the tenant remains in possession", and that nothing in the section prevents the landlord from recovering any other damages. The annotation printed with the statute summarizes Vincenti v. Stewart, a 1982 Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision, as holding that the section requires a minimum award of double rent when greater damages have not been proved.
- The landlord's consent changes the result. Under § 704.25(2)(b), when a residential lease expires and the tenant holds over, the landlord may elect to hold the tenant month to month, or on the weekly or daily basis on which rent is computed. Under § 704.25(2)(c), accepting rent for any period after the lease expires, or other conduct showing the landlord's intent to let the tenant stay, is that election unless the landlord has already started proceedings to remove the tenant. The new periodic tenancy carries the old lease's terms except renewal, extension and purchase rights, ends on notice under § 704.19, and the parties may agree to something else in the lease or later.
- Removal goes through the courts. Sections 704.23 and 704.25(1) let a landlord "proceed in any manner permitted by law" to remove a holdover tenant and recover damages; § 704.44(2m) makes a residential rental agreement void and unenforceable if it authorizes eviction or exclusion "other than by judicial eviction procedures as provided under ch. 799"; and Wisconsin Administrative Code § ATCP 134.09(7) bars a landlord from excluding, forcibly evicting or constructively evicting a tenant other than by a chapter 799 eviction.
- A subtenant's holdover can reach the original tenant. Under § 704.25(5), if an assignee or subtenant holds over, the landlord may hold the assignee or subtenant, or the original tenant if the original tenant took part in the holding over, as a periodic tenant, or may remove whoever is in possession and recover damages from the assignee or subtenant or, if the landlord has not been taking rent directly from them, from the original tenant. These sections were read from archived copies of the Wisconsin Legislature's pages, so check the current text of § 704.27 before relying on the figure.
Sources include Wis. Stat. § 704.27; Wis. Stat. § 704.25; Wis. Stat. § 704.23; Wis. Stat. § 704.44(2m); Wis. Admin. Code § ATCP 134.09(7); Wis. Stat. § 66.0104(2)(c); Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 110-12 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Wisconsin prices a holdover in one section, and the figure it sets is a floor. Wis. Stat. § 704.27 applies when a tenant remains in possession without the landlord's consent in three situations:
- After the lease expires.
- After a notice of termination given by either the landlord or the tenant.
- After a termination the parties validly agreed.
The landlord "shall, at the landlord's discretion, recover" the damages the failure to vacate caused. The section continues: "In absence of proof of greater damages, the landlord shall recover as minimum damages twice the rental value apportioned on a daily basis for the time the tenant remains in possession". Nothing in the section prevents the landlord from recovering other damages.
The annotation printed with the statute summarizes Vincenti v. Stewart, a 1982 Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision, as holding that the section requires a minimum award of double rent when greater damages have not been proved.
The base is rental value, not the rent alone. It is what the unit might reasonably have rented for, never less than what the tenant paid or owed for the prior rental period.
It also includes the money value of obligations the tenant took on in the rental agreement, such as taxes, insurance and repairs.
Consent changes the result. Under § 704.25(2)(b), when a residential lease expires and the tenant holds over, the landlord may elect to hold the tenant month to month, or on the weekly or daily basis on which rent is computed.
Under § 704.25(2)(c), accepting rent for any period after the lease expires, or other conduct showing the landlord's intent to let the tenant stay, is that election unless the landlord has already started proceedings to remove the tenant.
The new periodic tenancy carries the old lease's terms except renewal, extension and purchase rights, and it ends on notice under § 704.19. The parties may agree to something else, in the lease or later.
Removal goes through the courts. § 704.23 and § 704.25(1) let a landlord "proceed in any manner permitted by law" to remove a holdover tenant and recover damages. § 704.44(2m) makes a residential rental agreement void and unenforceable if it authorizes eviction or exclusion "other than by judicial eviction procedures as provided under ch. 799". § ATCP 134.09(7) bars a landlord from excluding, forcibly evicting or constructively evicting a tenant other than by a chapter 799 eviction.
A subtenant's holdover can reach the original tenant. Under § 704.25(5), if an assignee or subtenant holds over, the landlord may hold them, or the original tenant if that tenant took part in the holding over, as a periodic tenant.
The landlord may instead remove whoever is in possession and recover damages from the assignee or subtenant or, if it has not been taking rent directly from them, from the original tenant.
These sections were read from archived copies of the Wisconsin Legislature's pages, so read the current text of § 704.27 on docs.legis.wisconsin.gov before relying on the figure.
Wisconsin Tenant Protections
Wisconsin's holdover rule in § 704.27 starts from conditions a tenant can check: possession without the landlord's consent, after the lease expires, after a notice of termination from either side, or after an agreed termination. Absent proof of greater damages, the landlord recovers twice the rental value as minimum damages, apportioned daily for the time the tenant remains.
Rental value is never less than what the tenant paid or owed for the prior rental period. Consent changes the outcome.
Under § 704.25(2)(c), accepting rent for any period after expiry, or other conduct showing intent to let the tenant stay, is an election to keep the tenant as a periodic tenant. That holds unless removal proceedings have already started, and the tenancy runs month to month, or on the weekly or daily basis rent is computed on.
That tenancy keeps the old lease's terms except renewal, extension and purchase rights, and it ends on notice under § 704.19.
Removal goes through the courts. § 704.44(2m) voids a residential rental agreement that authorizes eviction or exclusion other than by chapter 799 procedures, and § ATCP 134.09(7) bars exclusion or forcible or constructive eviction outside a chapter 799 case. In Milwaukee, § 110-12 bars forcible entry and forcibly holding possession after a tenancy expires, naming changed locks and cut fuel, heat, electricity or water.
Its forfeiture is $25 to $500, and each day a violation continues is a separate offense.
Read the current text of § 704.27 before relying on the figure.
What's Specific to Milwaukee
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Our record of the Milwaukee Code of Ordinances was read in the City Clerk's own volumes, from Wayback Machine copies. Volume 1, the Regulatory Ordinances, is marked complete through Common Council actions of February 11, 2025, and Volume 2, the Building and Zoning Code, through 2025 actions taking effect January 1, 2026.
Both were text-searched in full, and our record finds no Milwaukee holdover rate, multiplier or holdover penalty. The figure on this page is Wisconsin's.
What Milwaukee adds is a rule for the landlord at the end of a tenancy. Milwaukee Code § 110-12 bars a landlord, a landlord's agent or anyone acting under a landlord's authority from forcible entry into a residential tenant's premises, or from forcibly holding possession, "during the term or after the expiration of the tenant's tenancy".
Forcible includes changing the locks to deprive the tenant of access and the actual or threatened interruption of fuel, heat, electricity or water.
A violation carries a forfeiture of $25 to $500, and each day it continues is a separate offense. The ordinance's words reach the days after a tenancy expires, which are the days a holdover clause prices.
State law also limits what a Wisconsin city may enact here. Wis. Stat. § 66.0104(2)(c) bars an ordinance that limits a residential tenant's responsibility, or a landlord's right to recover, for "any other costs, expenses, fees, payments, or damages for which the tenant is responsible under the rental agreement or applicable law".
We describe § 110-12 as enacted and are not predicting how § 66.0104 would apply to it.
The city's code is not on Municode, and the city's own site refused our requests, so ordinances adopted after those two volumes were compiled are outside this record. Confirm the current Milwaukee code before relying on the absence of a city holdover rate.
For a Milwaukee renter the sequence otherwise runs through state law and the court. Keep a dated record of every payment you make after the lease ends, since § 704.25(2)(c) treats the landlord's acceptance of rent as an election to keep you as a periodic tenant unless removal proceedings had already started.
If the locks change or a utility goes off, keep dated photographs and messages.
For a Milwaukee holdover, read things in this order:
- The holdover paragraph in your lease, and the rate it names.
- Any notice of termination, from either side, with its date.
- Any payment the landlord accepted after the end date.
- Any court papers, and any money claim set against § 704.27.
A Milwaukee tenant lawyer or legal aid office can weigh the lease rate against § 704.27 before you pay a premium.
§ 704.27 sets twice the rental value as minimum damages absent proof of greater damages, and says nothing in it prevents the landlord from recovering other damages.
Under § 704.25(2)(c), accepting rent for any period after expiry is the landlord's election to hold the tenant as a periodic tenant, unless removal proceedings had already started, and the parties may agree otherwise.
A periodic tenancy formed under § 704.25 ends on notice under § 704.19, and the parties may agree to something else in the lease or later.
§ 704.44(2m) voids an agreement authorizing eviction or exclusion other than by chapter 799 procedures, and Milwaukee's § 110-12 names changed locks and cut utilities as forcible.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- Wis. Stat. § 704.27; Wis. Stat. § 704.25; Wis. Stat. § 704.23; Wis. Stat. § 704.44(2m); Wis. Admin. Code § ATCP 134.09(7); Wis. Stat. § 66.0104(2)(c); Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 110-12, read on web.archive.org. The Wisconsin Legislature's § 704.27 page, updated through 2025 Wisconsin Act 103 and published April 3, 2026, was read from a Wayback Machine copy dated April 19, 2026, and the same text appears in its official Chapter 704 file published May 22, 2026 and in a capture dated August 28, 2026 updated through 2025 Wisconsin Act 247; confirm the current text at docs.legis.wisconsin.gov.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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A holdover rate presented as a cap
Twice the rental value in § 704.27 is minimum damages absent proof of greater damages, and the section does not prevent other damages. Wording that calls any figure a ceiling on what you owe deserves a close read.
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A clause saying accepted rent creates no tenancy
§ 704.25(2)(c) treats accepted rent as the landlord's election to keep you as a periodic tenant, and the parties may agree otherwise. Read that paragraph closely, since it may be the agreement that changes the default.
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A lockout clause for the day after expiry
§ 704.44(2m) makes a residential rental agreement void and unenforceable if it authorizes eviction or exclusion other than by judicial eviction procedures under chapter 799.
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Utilities cut to hurry a move-out
Milwaukee's § 110-12 counts the actual or threatened interruption of fuel, heat, electricity or water as forcible, with a forfeiture of $25 to $500 and each day a separate offense.
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A subtenant's stay billed to you
Under § 704.25(5) the landlord may recover from the original tenant for a subtenant's holdover where it has not been taking rent directly from the subtenant, or hold the original tenant if that tenant took part.
Your Rights as a Milwaukee Tenant
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Damages counted by the day
§ 704.27 apportions the double rental value on a daily basis for the time the tenant remains in possession.
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A periodic tenancy if rent is accepted
Under § 704.25(2)(c), accepting rent after expiry is an election to hold you month to month, or on the weekly or daily basis rent is computed on, unless removal proceedings had started.
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Removal through a chapter 799 case
§ 704.44(2m) and § ATCP 134.09(7) tie the removal of a residential tenant to chapter 799 eviction procedures.
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A city forfeiture for lockouts
Milwaukee's § 110-12 bars forcible entry and forcibly holding possession after a tenancy expires, with a forfeiture of $25 to $500 and each day a separate offense.
What To Do - Step by Step
Find the end date and the holdover rate
Note the date the term ends and the rate the holdover paragraph names. Set it beside § 704.27, which sets twice the rental value as minimum damages absent proof of greater damages.
Keep every notice and its date
§ 704.27 reaches a holdover after a notice of termination from either side. Photograph any notice and note the day it arrived.
Record every payment after the end date
Under § 704.25(2)(c) accepted rent is an election to keep you as a periodic tenant unless removal proceedings had started, so keep receipts with their dates.
Document any lockout or shut-off
Changed locks and cut fuel, heat, electricity or water are forcible under Milwaukee's § 110-12. Date every photograph and message.
Check the code and the statute text today
Our record of the Milwaukee code rests on the Clerk's volumes compiled through February 11, 2025 and January 1, 2026. Read the current text of § 704.27 on docs.legis.wisconsin.gov.
Get local advice before paying a premium
Take the lease, any notice and any court papers to a Milwaukee tenant lawyer or legal aid office. Bring the date the term ended and a record of every payment made since.