Quiet Enjoyment 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 Prompt repair, no day count. § 704.07(4) turns on whether the landlord “proceeds promptly to repair or rebuild or eliminate the health hazard”.
- If you stay, rent abates to the extent you are deprived of the full normal use of the premises. The same subsection says it “does not authorize rent to be withheld in full, if the tenant remains in possession.”
- The repair duties cannot be signed away. § 704.07(1) voids a waiver, § 704.44(8) voids a clause waiving fit and habitable condition, and ATCP 134.07 makes a promise to repair name a date or time period.
- The day counts in our Wisconsin record run against a tenant in breach. Under § 704.17 that is 5 days to remedy or vacate on a lease of one year or less and 30 days on a longer lease, with a 14-day notice to vacate as one month-to-month route.
- Milwaukee § 200-21-3 lets the city repair an emergency condition if the owner, once notified by the commissioner, fails to begin within 24 hours or finish within 120 hours. Those clocks run from the city's notice, not from yours.
Understanding the Quiet Enjoyment Clause
A quiet enjoyment clause is the lease's promise that you can live in your home without the landlord standing in the way: no lockout, no shutoff, no neglect that drives you out. In the Wisconsin sections we read, the measure of that promise is promptness rather than a number of days.
The rule is Wis. Stat. § 704.07(4). If the premises become untenantable, or a substantial violation of the landlord's repair duties materially affects your health or safety, you may move out unless the landlord “proceeds promptly” to fix it.
If you stay, rent abates to the extent you lose the full normal use of the home.
Two sets of clocks sit nearby, and neither is a landlord's deadline that your own notice starts. The 5, 14 and 30 days in § 704.17 run against a tenant who breaches.
Milwaukee's 24-hour and 120-hour clocks run from the city commissioner's notice to the owner.
What renters assume
Once I give my Milwaukee landlord written notice of a serious problem, Wisconsin law starts a fixed repair deadline, and the city's 24-hour rule runs from my complaint.
What is actually true
§ 704.07(4) asks whether the landlord “proceeds promptly”, and the Wisconsin sections we read set no day count for it. Milwaukee's 24-hour and 120-hour clocks in § 200-21-3 run from the commissioner's notice to the owner, not from a tenant's own notice.
22 rows sit in the comparison on this page. Nine of the 22 rows draw no bar: New York City, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, Newark, Detroit, Charlotte and Milwaukee, whose label reads Prompt repair, no day count.
Of the rows that carry a figure, four sit at 30 days, in Los Angeles, Portland, Columbus and Baltimore, and four at 14, in Chicago, Nashville, Las Vegas and Minneapolis. Seattle reads 10, Austin and Miami 7, Phoenix 5, and Denver 24 hours.
Wisconsin's own day counts stay off Milwaukee's bar. The 5, 14 and 30 days in § 704.17 run against a tenant in breach, and the city's 24-hour and 120-hour clocks run from the commissioner's notice to the owner. Neither is a cure period that a tenant's own notice starts.
Plain English Version
If your Milwaukee home becomes unlivable or a repair problem threatens your health or safety, Wisconsin lets you move out unless the landlord moves promptly to fix it. If you stay, your rent goes down to match what you have lost, but the law does not let you stop paying rent in full.
Your landlord cannot lock you out or cut off heat, water or power to push you out. For emergencies like no heat, the city can step in once it has notified the owner, and for other code violations a city order can open a rent escrow route.
Quiet Enjoyment 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.
The Lessee, upon paying the rent and performing the covenants and complying with the conditions on the part of the Lessee to be performed as herein set forth, shall, at all times during the term herein granted, quietly have, hold and enjoy, the apartment without any suit, trouble or hindrance from the Lessor, subject to the terms of this lease, but the Lessor shall only be bound by or be liable under this covenant so long as such Lessor shall be the owner of the land and the building.
Quoted from the published opinion in Zamzok v. 650 Park Ave. Corp., 80 Misc. 2d 573, 363 N.Y.S.2d 868 (Sup. Ct., N.Y. County 1974). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
“upon paying the rent”
This condition decided Zamzok: residents paying into escrow rather than to the co-op had not met it, so the covenant never became operative. Wisconsin's statute meets the same pressure point in its own terms. Wis. Stat. § 704.07(4) abates rent while a tenant stays in a home that is untenantable or hazardous, to the extent the tenant is deprived of the full normal use of the premises. It also says it “does not authorize rent to be withheld in full, if the tenant remains in possession”.
“quietly have, hold and enjoy”
The core promise is possession, and Wisconsin writes it into statute. § 704.05(2) gives the tenant “the right to exclusive possession of the premises” until the tenancy ends, so long as the tenant is not in default. When the home itself fails, § 704.07(4) lets the tenant move out of premises made untenantable by fire, water or other casualty or “any condition hazardous to health”, unless the landlord “proceeds promptly” to repair or eliminate the hazard. Zamzok accepted that giving up part of a dwelling can breach the covenant, and Wisconsin's abatement is measured by the share of normal use you lose.
“without any suit, trouble or hindrance”
The covenant promises no interference from the landlord, and Wisconsin's rental practices rule names the worst kinds. Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09(7) says no landlord may “exclude, forcibly evict or constructively evict a tenant from a dwelling unit, other than by an eviction procedure specified under ch. 799”. ATCP 134.09(5) bars constructive eviction “by any means including the termination or substantial reduction of heat, water or electricity” in retaliation for reporting a code violation, joining a tenants' union or asserting a legal right.
“subject to the terms of this lease”
These words let the lease shape the covenant, and Wisconsin limits how far. § 704.07(1) says an agreement to waive the landlord's repair duties in a residential tenancy, “including an agreement in a rental agreement, is void”. § 704.44(8) voids a rental agreement that waives the duty to deliver or maintain the premises in a fit or habitable condition, and ATCP 134.07 requires a promise to clean or repair to specify the date or time period for completion.
The landlord won on the quiet-enjoyment claims, and the reason is in the clause's opening words. The court read “upon paying the rent and performing the covenants” as a condition precedent: these residents were withholding their maintenance payments - paying into escrow rather than to the co-op - so the covenant never became operative, and both quiet-enjoyment causes of action were dismissed. They had also never alleged that they abandoned the apartment, or any part of it. Two further rulings are worth knowing. The court accepted that a partial constructive eviction - giving up only part of a dwelling - can breach the covenant. And it held that damages for physical discomfort, annoyance and emotional distress are not recoverable on a contractual covenant of this kind. Leave to replead came with a price: all back rent paid within 10 days. One label matters before you map it onto your own situation - this was a residential co-op proprietary lease on Park Avenue, not an ordinary rental, so read it for the mechanics of the wording rather than as a straight tenancy decision.
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 Quiet Enjoyment Clause
- The tenant's remedy turns on promptness, not a day count. Section 704.07(4) says that if the premises become untenantable because of fire, water or other casualty or "any condition hazardous to health", or there is a substantial violation of the landlord's repair duties materially affecting the tenant's health or safety, "the tenant may remove from the premises unless the landlord proceeds promptly to repair or rebuild or eliminate the health hazard". If the tenant stays, rent abates to the extent the tenant is deprived of the full normal use of the premises, but "This section does not authorize rent to be withheld in full, if the tenant remains in possession." The subsection does not apply where the condition was caused by the tenant's negligence or improper use.
- The repair duties cannot be signed away. Section 704.07(2)(a) requires the landlord to keep the portions of the premises it controls and the equipment for services it agreed to furnish, such as heat, water, elevator or air conditioning, in a reasonable state of repair, to make all necessary structural repairs, and for a residential tenancy to comply with any applicable local housing code. Section 704.07(1) says an agreement to waive the section in a residential tenancy, "including an agreement in a rental agreement, is void", and § 704.44(8) voids a residential rental agreement that waives the landlord's obligation to deliver the premises in a fit or habitable condition or to maintain them during the tenancy. Under ATCP 134.07 a landlord's promise to clean or repair must specify the date or time period for completion.
- When the tenant is the one disturbing others, the cure window is 5 days on a shorter lease. Section 704.05(3) bars a tenant from using the premises "in such manner as to interfere unreasonably with use by another occupant of the same building or group of buildings". Under § 704.17(2)(b), for a lease of one year or less, the landlord may serve a notice "requiring the tenant to remedy the default or vacate the premises on or before a date at least 5 days after the giving of the notice"; a tenant who promptly takes reasonable steps to remedy and proceeds with reasonable diligence is deemed to be complying, and a second breach within one year allows a 14-day notice to vacate with no chance to remedy. For a month-to-month tenant, § 704.17(1p)(b) allows either the same 5-day notice or a notice to vacate "on or before a date at least 14 days after the giving of the notice", and § 704.17(3)(a) gives at least 30 days to comply on a lease of more than one year.
- Lockouts and service cutoffs are barred outright. ATCP 134.09(7) says "No landlord may exclude, forcibly evict or constructively evict a tenant from a dwelling unit, other than by an eviction procedure specified under ch. 799, Stats.", and ATCP 134.09(5) bars constructively evicting a tenant "by any means including the termination or substantial reduction of heat, water or electricity" in retaliation for reporting a code violation, joining a tenants' union, or asserting a legal right. Section 704.05(2) gives the tenant "the right to exclusive possession of the premises" until the tenancy ends and so long as the tenant is not in default, subject to the landlord's limited entry rights.
Sources include Wis. Stat. § 704.07(4); Wis. Stat. § 704.07(1), (2); Wis. Stat. § 704.05(2), (3); Wis. Stat. § 704.44(8); Wis. Stat. § 704.17(1p)(b); Wis. Stat. § 704.17(2)(b); Wis. Stat. § 704.17(3)(a); Wis. Stat. § 704.17(3m)(b); Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09(5), (7); Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.07; Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 200-21; Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 200-22; Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 200-12; Wis. Stat. § 704.07(5); Wis. Stat. § 66.0104(2)(e)1m. - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Start with Wis. Stat. § 704.07(4). It reaches premises that become untenantable because of fire, water or other casualty or “any condition hazardous to health”, and a substantial violation of the landlord's repair duties that materially affects the tenant's health or safety.
In either case, “the tenant may remove from the premises unless the landlord proceeds promptly to repair or rebuild or eliminate the health hazard”.
The same subsection handles the tenant who stays. Rent abates to the extent the tenant is deprived of the full normal use of the premises.
The subsection adds that it “does not authorize rent to be withheld in full, if the tenant remains in possession”. It does not apply where the tenant's negligence or improper use caused the condition.
The duties behind that remedy are in § 704.07(2)(a). The landlord must:
- Keep the portions of the premises it controls, and equipment for services it agreed to furnish such as heat, water, elevator or air conditioning, in a reasonable state of repair.
- Make all necessary structural repairs.
- For a residential tenancy, comply with any applicable local housing code.
They cannot be signed away. § 704.07(1) says an agreement to waive the section in a residential tenancy, “including an agreement in a rental agreement, is void”. § 704.44(8) voids a rental agreement that waives the duty to deliver or maintain the premises in a fit or habitable condition, and ATCP 134.07 requires a promise to repair to specify the date or time period for completion.
Possession comes next. § 704.05(2) gives the tenant “the right to exclusive possession of the premises” until the tenancy ends, so long as the tenant is not in default. ATCP 134.09(7) bars excluding, forcibly evicting or constructively evicting a tenant other than by an eviction procedure under ch. 799.
ATCP 134.09(5) bars a retaliatory constructive eviction “by any means including the termination or substantial reduction of heat, water or electricity”.
The day counts in our record run the other way. § 704.05(3) bars a tenant from interfering unreasonably with another occupant's use of the building. On a lease of one year or less, § 704.17(2)(b) allows a notice to remedy or vacate at least 5 days out, and § 704.17(3)(a) gives at least 30 days on a longer lease.
A month-to-month tenant may get the 5-day notice or a 14-day notice to vacate under § 704.17(1p)(b).
We read § 704.07 on the Legislature's page as archived on 28 August 2026, so read the current text on docs.legis.wisconsin.gov before relying on it.
Wisconsin Tenant Protections
Under Wis. Stat. § 704.07(4), a tenant may move out if the premises become untenantable or a substantial repair violation materially affects health or safety, unless the landlord proceeds promptly to repair or eliminate the hazard. The Wisconsin sections we read set no day count.
A tenant who stays has rent abated to the extent of lost full normal use, and the subsection does not authorize withholding rent in full. § 704.07(2)(a) sets the duties: repair of the portions the landlord controls and of agreed services such as heat and water, all necessary structural repairs, and compliance with any applicable local housing code. A waiver is void under § 704.07(1) and § 704.44(8), and ATCP 134.07 requires a promise to repair to specify a date or time period. § 704.05(2) gives exclusive possession, ATCP 134.09(7) bars exclusion or constructive eviction outside a ch. 799 eviction, and ATCP 134.09(5) bars retaliatory cutoffs of heat, water or electricity.
The 5, 14 and 30-day periods in § 704.17 run against a tenant in breach. Locally, Milwaukee § 200-21-3, as enacted, lets the commissioner repair an emergency condition if the owner, once notified by the commissioner, fails to begin within 24 hours or finish within 120 hours. § 200-22-1 authorizes rent escrow once a commissioner's order is past due and the department has notified the tenant in writing.
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 interference with your home, the city sections we read add a repair route run by the city, with clocks of its own.
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).
The emergency route is § 200-21-3. Where an emergency condition exists, such as a heating failure, a lack of water or hot water, or failed sanitary facilities, the commissioner may repair it if the owner, once notified by the commissioner, fails to begin to remedy within 24 hours.
The same applies if the owner has not completely remedied it within 120 hours.
Under § 200-21-2-b-2, the 24-hour periods are read as 72 and 84 hours where the condition involves hot water supply alone. Every one of these clocks runs from the city's notice to the owner, not from a tenant's own written notice. A letter from you to your landlord does not start them.
Other code violations run on an order. § 200-12-2-c requires the commissioner's order to specify a reasonable time for compliance. Once that order is past due and the department has notified the tenant in writing, § 200-22-1 authorizes the tenant to pay rent into a city escrow account instead of to the owner. § 200-20-1 repeats the state repair duties for any tenancy with no contrary provision in writing signed by both parties.
Two state sections speak to how far a city may go. Wis. Stat. § 704.07(5) requires a city ordinance regulating rent abatement to limit abatement to conditions that materially affect health or safety or substantially affect use and occupancy. § 66.0104(2)(e)1m. sets correction periods of not less than 30 days for habitability violations found in a city rental inspection program, shorter where a violation exposes a tenant to imminent danger.
We describe the Milwaukee sections as enacted and take no position on how those state sections apply to them.
A limit on this page. Our record does not include Milwaukee's noise or nuisance chapters, the City of Milwaukee code is not listed on Municode, and city.milwaukee.gov refused our requests, so chapters we did not open are outside our record.
What makes the escrow route usable is a dated file: the commissioner's order, the date it fell due, and the department's written notice to you. § 200-22-1 ties the authorization to both, so keep each with its date.
ATCP 134.07 requires a landlord's promise to clean or repair to specify the date or time period for completion. A clause that names one gives you something to measure against.
§ 704.07(1) voids an agreement waiving the section in a residential tenancy, including one in a rental agreement, and § 704.44(8) voids a waiver of fit and habitable condition.
ATCP 134.09(7) bars excluding or constructively evicting a tenant other than by a ch. 799 eviction, and ATCP 134.09(5) bars retaliatory cutoffs of heat, water or electricity.
§ 704.07(4) turns on whether the landlord proceeds promptly, and § 704.07(1) voids a waiver of the section. A clause granting a long fixed period is worth reading against both.
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. § 704.07(4); Wis. Stat. § 704.07(1), (2); Wis. Stat. § 704.05(2), (3); Wis. Stat. § 704.44(8); Wis. Stat. § 704.17(1p)(b); Wis. Stat. § 704.17(2)(b); Wis. Stat. § 704.17(3)(a); Wis. Stat. § 704.17(3m)(b); Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09(5), (7); Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.07; Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 200-21; Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 200-22; Milwaukee Code of Ordinances § 200-12; Wis. Stat. § 704.07(5); Wis. Stat. § 66.0104(2)(e)1m., read on web.archive.org. The Wisconsin Legislature's page for this section, in an Internet Archive copy saved 28 August 2026, prints the 2023-24 Wisconsin Statutes updated through 2025 Wis. Act 247 (published 5 August 2026) with a History line ending 2017 a. 317.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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A city clock quoted as the landlord's deadline
Milwaukee's 24-hour and 120-hour periods in § 200-21-3 run from the commissioner's notice to the owner. They are not counted from a tenant's own letter.
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A 5-day notice to remedy
§ 704.17(2)(b) allows a notice to remedy or vacate at least 5 days out on a lease of one year or less. A tenant who promptly takes reasonable steps to remedy and proceeds with reasonable diligence is deemed to be complying.
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Heat or water cut after a complaint
ATCP 134.09(5) bars constructive eviction “by any means including the termination or substantial reduction of heat, water or electricity” in retaliation for reporting a code violation or asserting a right.
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A lockout with no court case
ATCP 134.09(7) bars excluding, forcibly evicting or constructively evicting a tenant other than by an eviction procedure under ch. 799.
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Repairs waived in the lease
§ 704.07(1) makes a waiver in a residential rental agreement void, and § 704.44(8) voids a waiver of the duty to keep the premises fit and habitable.
Your Rights as a Milwaukee Tenant
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Leave if the home becomes unlivable
§ 704.07(4) lets you move out if the premises become untenantable or a substantial repair violation materially affects health or safety, unless the landlord proceeds promptly to fix it.
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Pay less while you stay
Rent abates to the extent you are deprived of the full normal use of the premises, though § 704.07(4) does not authorize withholding rent in full while you remain.
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Exclusive possession
§ 704.05(2) gives you “the right to exclusive possession of the premises” until the tenancy ends, so long as you are not in default.
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A Milwaukee escrow route
§ 200-22-1, as enacted, authorizes rent escrow with the city once a commissioner's order is past due and the department has notified the tenant in writing.
What To Do - Step by Step
Name the problem
An untenantable home or a health hazard falls under § 704.07(4). A lockout or a shutoff falls under ATCP 134.09(7) and (5). The route depends on which it is.
Tell the landlord in writing and keep the date
§ 704.07(4) asks whether the landlord proceeds promptly. A dated notice fixes when the landlord was told, and keep any reply with its date too.
Bring in the city for an emergency
For a heating failure, no water or failed sanitary facilities, § 200-21-3's 24-hour and 120-hour clocks start with the commissioner's notice to the owner.
Follow the escrow steps in order
§ 200-22-1 authorizes escrow after a commissioner's order is past due and the department has notified you in writing. Keep the order and that notice.
Keep paying while you stay
§ 704.07(4) abates rent to match lost use, but says it does not authorize withholding rent in full if you remain in possession.
Read the current text, then get help
We read § 704.07 as archived on 28 August 2026. Read the current text on docs.legis.wisconsin.gov, then take your dated file to a Milwaukee legal aid office or tenant attorney.