Lease Renewal 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
- Milwaukee's row in the comparison on this page reads 28 days (month-to-month), from § 704.19(3): “At least 28 days' notice must be given”. Under § 704.19(2)(a) the written-notice rule binds the tenant as well as the landlord.
- Where rent is payable on a basis less than monthly, notice at least equal to the rent-paying period is enough. A year-to-year tenancy ends at the end of the rental year.
- For a fixed-term lease, the Chapter 704 sections we read set no notice period for declining to renew. If a residential tenant holds over, § 704.25 lets the landlord elect a month-to-month tenancy, and accepting rent after the lease expires counts as that election.
- A lease that renews itself unless you give notice is not enforceable against you under § 704.15 unless the landlord first sends a written reminder at least 15 days but not more than 30 days before your notice is due.
- The reason can be challenged. § 704.45(1) bars a retaliatory refusal to renew, and Milwaukee § 200-21-8 and § 200-22-5, as enacted, presume retaliation for set periods after a complaint to the city's commissioner.
Understanding the Lease Renewal Clause
A renewal clause settles three things at the end of a lease: whether the tenancy carries on, which side has to act to stop it, and how much warning that side owes. Wisconsin's statutes answer the warning question for tenancies that run period to period, and they also police the clause that renews a lease by itself.
The warning is in Wis. Stat. § 704.19. Ending a month-to-month tenancy takes at least 28 days' written notice from landlord or tenant, and the tenancy ends at the end of a rental period.
The self-renewing lease is § 704.15, which makes that clause unenforceable against the tenant without a written reminder from the landlord first.
The fixed term is where the timing goes quiet. The Chapter 704 sections we read set no notice period for declining to renew a lease with a set end date.
That leaves the renewal paragraph you signed as the first document to read, and the reason behind a refusal as the second.
What renters assume
Wisconsin's 28 days is the warning my Milwaukee landlord owes me before deciding not to renew my one-year lease.
What is actually true
The 28 days in § 704.19(3) is for ending a periodic tenancy, such as month to month. The Chapter 704 sections we read set no notice period for declining to renew a fixed-term lease.
They regulate the self-renewing clause under § 704.15 and the reason for a refusal under § 704.45(1).
22 rows sit in the comparison on this page. Nine of the 22 rows are drawn at the thirty-day mark: Austin, Chicago, Phoenix, Nashville, Boston, Las Vegas, Columbus, Detroit and Minneapolis, the last two labelled 1 month.
Five rows read 60 days, in Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle, Atlanta and Baltimore, and three sit at 90, in New York City, Denver and Portland.
Philadelphia reads 15 days and Charlotte 7 days, and Washington and Newark draw no bar because their rows require cause. Milwaukee's bar stands at 28 days, just short of the thirty-day group.
That is the figure § 704.19(3) states, and it is written in days, not as a month.
It measures a periodic tenancy. A Milwaukee renter on a fixed term is not on the clock that bar draws, and the rule that reaches a self-renewing lease is § 704.15.
Plain English Version
If you rent month to month in Milwaukee, Wisconsin law lets you or your landlord end the tenancy with at least 28 days' written notice, ending at the end of a rental period. If rent is payable more often than monthly, notice equal to the rent-paying period is enough.
If you signed a lease with an end date, the sections we read set no notice period for declining to renew it. A lease that renews itself unless you object needs a written reminder from the landlord before it can bind you, and a refusal to renew used as payback can be challenged.
Lease Renewal 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.
(c) Landlord may increase the rent or change any other term of the Lease for any renewal period by sending written notice to Tenant. Landlord must send this notice at least 60 days before the end of the Term or of any renewal term. Tenant may reject the renewal terms by sending written notice to Landlord 60 days prior to the end of the current lease ending date. Tenant must then vacate at the end of the current Term. The Lease will renew on the terms set forth in Landlord's renewal notice if Tenant does not send notice ending the Lease.
Quoted from the published opinion in Cooper v. SGYS St. Ives, LLC, 333 A.3d 1046, 2025 PA Super 66 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2025). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
“any renewal period by sending written notice”
One letter from the landlord rewrites the rent or any other term for the next period. Our Wisconsin record does not reach how large a renewal increase may be, and it does reach the reason behind a refusal to renew. Wis. Stat. § 704.45(1) bars a residential landlord from refusing to renew a lease, or threatening to, where that would not happen but for retaliation. The protected acts are a good faith complaint to an official or housing code agency, a complaint about § 704.07 or the local housing code, or the exercise of a legal right.
“send this notice at least 60 days before the end of”
The landlord's deadline here is a promise the lease makes, not one our Wisconsin record imposes on a fixed term. The Chapter 704 sections we read set no notice period for declining to renew a lease at its end date. Wisconsin's own clock, § 704.19(3), is at least 28 days' written notice to end a periodic tenancy, and § 704.19(2)(b)1. ends that tenancy at the end of a rental period rather than partway through one.
“must then vacate at the end of the current”
The lease assumes a tenant who turns down the new terms walks out on the last day. If one stays instead, Wisconsin writes what follows. § 704.25(2)(b) lets the landlord elect to hold a residential tenant who holds over on a month-to-month basis, and under § 704.25(2)(c) accepting rent for any period after the lease expires counts as that election. § 704.25(6) then sends the ending back to § 704.19 and its 28 days.
“Tenant does not send notice ending”
Silence renews the lease, and this sentence is the shape § 704.15 is written for. A residential lease provision that renews or extends the lease unless notice is given “is not enforceable against the tenant unless the lessor” first sends written notice calling attention to it. That reminder must come at least 15 days but not more than 30 days before the time set for the tenant's notice. Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09(3) bars enforcing, or attempting to enforce, the clause without that separate notice. Cooper held the landlord who wrote this sentence to it; in Milwaukee, whether it binds the tenant starts with a letter the landlord had to send.
The clause was enforced exactly as written, and it came back on the landlord who wrote it. The underlying dispute was not about renewal at all - it was a claim under Philadelphia's lead-disclosure ordinance, and the landlord's answer was that the Coopers were former tenants with no right to bring it. The Superior Court disagreed. Because paragraph 24 renewed the lease automatically unless a party gave 60 days' written notice, and this landlord gave none, brought no eviction and filed no suit, the lease was still alive and the Coopers were still tenants - even though they had stopped paying rent. The landlord, the court held, “had a duty to take specific action against Appellants in order to end the lease,” and a tenant's own breach does not quietly turn them into a former tenant. Two things to keep in view. This is a standing holding that construes an automatic-renewal clause, not a renewal dispute, and it should not be read as one. And the same paragraph priced the renewal it created: subsection (b) raised the rent for each renewal term to market rent, as determined by Landlord, with a minimum increase of 7% above current rent. Automatic renewal runs in whichever direction the paperwork points, and here the paperwork pointed at the landlord.
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 Lease Renewal Clause
- The 28 days is a floor, and it is counted from the day notice is given. Section 704.19(3) reads: "At least 28 days' notice must be given except in the following cases: If rent is payable on a basis less than monthly, notice at least equal to the rent-paying period is sufficient; all agricultural tenancies from year-to-year require at least 90 days' notice." Under § 704.19(2)(b)1. a periodic tenancy "can be terminated by notice under this section only at the end of a rental period", and under § 704.19(7) the day notice is given counts as the first day, with notice mailed within the state treated as given on the 2nd day after mailing.
- The notice rule runs both ways, but the tenant's notice is a separate obligation. Section 704.19(2)(a) says a periodic tenancy or a tenancy at will "can be terminated by either the landlord or the tenant only by giving to the other party written notice complying with this section", unless the parties agreed on another method established by clear and convincing proof or the premises were surrendered. Under § 704.19(4) the notice must be in writing and "substantially inform the other party" of the intent to terminate and the date of termination, and § 704.21(1) lists the ways a landlord's notice may be delivered.
- An automatic renewal clause needs a reminder before it binds the tenant. Section 704.15 says a residential lease provision that renews or extends the lease unless notice is given "is not enforceable against the tenant unless the lessor, at least 15 days but not more than 30 days prior to the time specified for the giving of such notice to the lessor, gives to the tenant written notice" calling attention to the provision. Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09(3) bars a landlord from enforcing, or attempting to enforce, such a provision without that separate written notice.
- Refusing to renew can be unlawful retaliation. Under § 704.45(1) a residential landlord may not "refuse to renew a lease or threaten any of the foregoing" where the action would not occur but for retaliation against a tenant for a good faith complaint to a public official or housing code agency, a complaint to the landlord about § 704.07 or the local housing code, or exercising a legal right relating to residential tenancies. Section 704.44(1m)(d) voids a residential rental agreement that allows the landlord to refuse to renew because the tenant contacted law enforcement, health or safety services, and ATCP 134.09(5) bars giving "notice preventing the automatic renewal of a lease" in retaliation for protected acts.
Sources include Wis. Stat. § 704.19(3); Wis. Stat. § 704.19(2); Wis. Stat. § 704.25(2)(b), (c); Wis. Stat. § 704.25(6); Wis. Stat. § 704.15; Wis. Stat. § 704.45(1); Wis. Stat. § 704.44(1m)(d); Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09(3); Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09(5); Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 200-21-8; Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 200-22-5; Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 200-20-2; Wis. Stat. § 66.0104(2) - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Start with Wis. Stat. § 704.19(3): “At least 28 days' notice must be given except in the following cases”. If rent is payable on a basis less than monthly, notice at least equal to the rent-paying period is sufficient.
Agricultural tenancies from year to year need at least 90 days' notice.
The notice runs both ways. Under § 704.19(2)(a), a periodic tenancy or a tenancy at will can be ended “by either the landlord or the tenant” by written notice, unless the parties agreed another method shown by clear and convincing proof, or the premises were surrendered.
Two timing rules shape the count. Under § 704.19(2)(b)1. a periodic tenancy ends at the end of a rental period, and a year-to-year tenancy at the end of the rental year.
Under § 704.19(7) the day notice is given is the first day, and notice mailed within the state counts as given on the 2nd day after mailing.
The notice must be in writing and, under § 704.19(4), “substantially inform the other party” of the intent to terminate and the date of termination. § 704.21(1) lists the ways a landlord's notice may be delivered.
A fixed term reaches § 704.19 through holding over. If a residential tenant stays past the lease, § 704.25 lets the landlord elect to hold the tenant month to month, and accepting rent for a period after expiry counts as that election. The tenancy that results ends under § 704.19.
A self-renewing lease meets § 704.15. Such a provision “is not enforceable against the tenant unless the lessor” sends a written reminder at least 15 days but not more than 30 days before the tenant's notice is due.
Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09(3) bars enforcing, or attempting to enforce, one without that separate notice.
Then the reason. § 704.45(1) bars a landlord from refusing to renew a lease where that would not occur but for retaliation for a good faith complaint, a complaint about § 704.07 or the local housing code, or exercising a legal right. ATCP 134.09(5) bars a retaliatory notice preventing the automatic renewal of a lease.
And the silence, scoped to what we read: the Chapter 704 sections in our record set no notice period for declining to renew a fixed-term lease. We read § 704.19 on the Legislature's page as archived on 3 January 2026, so read the current text on docs.legis.wisconsin.gov before you count from it.
Wisconsin Tenant Protections
At least 28 days' written notice to end a periodic tenancy under Wis. Stat. § 704.19(3), binding landlord and tenant alike under § 704.19(2)(a). Where rent is payable on a basis less than monthly, notice at least equal to the rent-paying period is sufficient.
A periodic tenancy ends at the end of a rental period, and a year-to-year tenancy at the end of the rental year.
The day notice is given counts as the first day, and notice mailed within the state is given on the 2nd day after mailing.
After a residential lease expires, § 704.25 lets the landlord elect a month-to-month tenancy, accepting rent counts as that election, and the tenancy ends under § 704.19. An automatic renewal provision is not enforceable against the tenant without a written reminder at least 15 days but not more than 30 days before the tenant's notice is due, under § 704.15 and ATCP 134.09(3). § 704.45(1) bars a retaliatory refusal to renew, § 704.44(1m)(d) voids a rental agreement allowing refusal because the tenant contacted law enforcement, health or safety services, and ATCP 134.09(5) bars a retaliatory notice preventing automatic renewal.
Locally, Milwaukee § 200-21-8 and § 200-22-5, as enacted, presume retaliation for set periods after a complaint to the commissioner, with a forfeiture of $100 to $2,000 per attempt, and § 200-20-2 presumes it within 6 months of a code violation report.
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.
Milwaukee renters read two layers on this question: Wisconsin's statutes first, then the city code. On renewal, the city sections we read set no clock of their own, and they say a good deal about motive.
The timing first. Our Milwaukee record is the City Clerk's PDF of Chapter 200, Subchapter 3 (Enforcement), saved by the Internet Archive on 25 July 2026 with pages dated through 17 December 2024, plus a text search of Chapter 275 (Building Maintenance).
Those chapters set no notice period of their own for ending a tenancy or declining to renew a lease, so start from § 704.19 and your own lease.
The motive rules come in three sections. Milwaukee § 200-21-8 covers premises where the city acted on an emergency loss of essential services.
An attempt to refuse to renew an occupant's rental agreement, from the first complaint to the commissioner until 12 months after the city is fully reimbursed, is presumed retaliatory and is void.
That section carries a forfeiture of $100 to $2,000 per attempt, unless good cause is shown by a preponderance of the evidence. § 200-22-5 sets the same presumption for an attempt to terminate the tenancy of a tenant who complained of code violations or used the city's rent withholding escrow, running to 12 months after all violations are certified corrected.
The third is § 200-20-2. It presumes that an attempt to raise rents unreasonably, curtail services or evict within 6 months of a tenant's report of code violations to the commissioner is retaliatory.
A word on reach. We read Wis. Stat. § 66.0104, which lists specific limits a city may not place on a residential landlord. We describe the Milwaukee sections as enacted and take no position on how § 66.0104 applies to them.
Two limits on what this page covers. The City of Milwaukee code is not listed on Municode and city.milwaukee.gov refused our requests, so we read the Clerk's chapter PDFs in archived copies that carry page dates rather than a codified-through line.
Chapters we did not open are outside our record, so ask the city about any rule elsewhere in its code.
What makes these presumptions usable is a dated file. If a refusal to renew follows a complaint to the commissioner, a rent withholding escrow or city action on a loss of essential services, keep the date of each step, because each Milwaukee period is counted from one.
It should. The Chapter 704 sections we read set no notice period for declining to renew a fixed term, and § 704.25 lets the landlord elect a month-to-month tenancy if you hold over. Look for whether staying starts a new term or a monthly tenancy.
§ 704.19(2)(a) applies the written-notice rule to “either the landlord or the tenant”, and § 704.19(3) sets at least 28 days. A clause asking more warning of you than of the landlord is worth raising before you sign.
Under § 704.15 that provision is not enforceable against you unless the landlord sends a written reminder at least 15 days but not more than 30 days before your notice is due. Keep any reminder with its date.
§ 704.44(1m)(d) voids a residential rental agreement that allows a landlord to refuse to renew because the tenant contacted law enforcement, health or safety services.
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. § 704.19(3); Wis. Stat. § 704.19(2); Wis. Stat. § 704.25(2)(b), (c); Wis. Stat. § 704.25(6); Wis. Stat. § 704.15; Wis. Stat. § 704.45(1); Wis. Stat. § 704.44(1m)(d); Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09(3); Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09(5); Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 200-21-8; Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 200-22-5; Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 200-20-2; Wis. Stat. § 66.0104(2), read on web.archive.org. The Wisconsin Legislature's page for this section, in an Internet Archive copy saved 3 January 2026, prints the 2023-24 Wisconsin Statutes updated through 2025 Wis. Act 47 (published 19 December 2025) with a History line ending 2015 a. 176, and the Legislature's Chapter 704 PDF published 22 May 2026 carries the same text.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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A 28-day notice on a fixed-term lease
The 28 days in § 704.19(3) is for ending a periodic tenancy. If your lease has a set end date, ask in writing what the notice is based on before counting anything.
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A renewal nobody reminded you of
§ 704.15 makes an automatic renewal unenforceable against you without a written reminder at least 15 days but not more than 30 days before your notice deadline, and ATCP 134.09(3) bars enforcing it without one.
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A notice that ends mid-period
Under § 704.19(2)(b)1. a periodic tenancy ends at the end of a rental period, and a year-to-year tenancy at the end of the rental year. Check the date the notice names against your rent cycle.
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A refusal that follows a complaint
§ 704.45(1) bars refusing to renew where it would not occur but for retaliation for a good faith complaint or for exercising a legal right. Keep dated copies of what you reported.
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A refusal after the city stepped in
Milwaukee § 200-21-8 and § 200-22-5, as enacted, presume retaliation from a first complaint to the commissioner until 12 months after the city is reimbursed or the violations are certified corrected.
Your Rights as a Milwaukee Tenant
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28 days, both directions
§ 704.19(3) sets at least 28 days' notice, and § 704.19(2)(a) applies the written-notice rule to either the landlord or the tenant ending a periodic tenancy.
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A reminder before a lease renews itself
§ 704.15 makes an automatic renewal clause unenforceable against you unless the landlord gives written notice calling your attention to it, at least 15 days but not more than 30 days before your deadline.
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No refusal to renew as payback
§ 704.45(1) bars a retaliatory refusal to renew, and ATCP 134.09(5) bars a retaliatory notice preventing the automatic renewal of a lease.
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A Milwaukee presumption of retaliation
Milwaukee § 200-21-8, § 200-22-5 and § 200-20-2, as enacted, presume retaliation within set periods after a tenant's complaint or code report to the commissioner.
What To Do - Step by Step
Name your tenancy type first
Fixed term, month to month or year to year? § 704.19 answers the last two, and the Chapter 704 sections we read set no non-renewal notice period for the first.
Count the days the statute's way
Under § 704.19(7) the day notice is given is the first day, and notice mailed within the state counts as given on the 2nd day after mailing. The tenancy then ends at the end of a rental period.
Look for a self-renewing paragraph
Find your own notice deadline, then watch for the landlord's written reminder, which § 704.15 times at least 15 days but not more than 30 days before it.
Line up the dates against your complaints
Milwaukee § 200-20-2 counts 6 months from a code report to the commissioner, and § 200-21-8 and § 200-22-5 run to 12 months after the city's matter closes. Keep copies with their dates.
Read your own renewal paragraph on a fixed term
With no non-renewal period in the sections we read, that paragraph is the working document. If you stay past the end date, § 704.25 treats the landlord's acceptance of rent as electing month to month.
Read the current text, then get advice
We read § 704.19 on the Legislature's page as archived on 3 January 2026. Read the current text on docs.legis.wisconsin.gov, then take a disputed non-renewal to a Milwaukee tenant attorney or legal aid office.