Wisconsin Retaliation Law: What Counts & the Presumption Window (2026)

What counts as retaliation, and the window where the law presumes it

At a glance

• Protection window: No statutory presumption window
• Governing authority: Wis. Stat. § 704.45

Who this covers — and who it does not

This page covers landlord retaliation in Wisconsin — what a landlord may not do after you exercise a protected right.

It does not cover commercial leases, or conduct outside the protected window described below.

What the law prohibits

Wis. Stat. § 704.45 — 房东不得因租客 good faith 投诉房屋缺陷给民选官员/执法机关、向房东投诉违反 704.07 或地方法规、或行使住宅租赁法律权利而报复（涨租、减服务、提起占有之诉、拒续租或威胁）。

Wis. Stat. § 704.45 ↗

The protection window

Wisconsin does not set a statutory presumption window. Whether an action counts as retaliation depends on the facts rather than a fixed clock.

威斯康星州法**无固定天数推定窗口**：704.45 采用 "preponderance of evidence" + "would not occur but for" 标准，未像多数州那样设「90 天推定」。麦迪逊市 MGO 32.15 的「6 个月推定」是地方条例，非州法。

Wis. Stat. § 704.45 ↗

Protected activities

What a landlord may not do

Burden of proof

租客须以 preponderance of evidence 证明房东行为「若非报复则不会发生」（but-for 标准）。

Wis. Stat. § 704.45(1) ↗

Remedies

Exemptions and limits

租客未付租（非禁止涨租部分）的，房东仍可提起占有之诉（704.45(2)）；租客自身疏忽/不当使用造成缺陷的投诉不适用（704.45(3)）。

Wis. Stat. § 704.45(2), (3) ↗

Sources and how to verify them

Every figure on this page comes from the official text or a state court opinion, not from a summary. The table below lists each provision used and the date it was last checked.

Statute	Last verified	Source
Wis. Stat. § 704.45	2026-10-16	official text ↗
Wis. Stat. § 704.45(1)(a)	2026-10-16	official text ↗
Wis. Stat. § 704.45(1)(b)	2026-10-16	official text ↗
Wis. Stat. § 704.45(1)(c)	2026-10-16	official text ↗
Wis. Stat. § 704.45(1)	2026-10-16	official text ↗
Wis. Stat. § 704.45(2), (3)	2026-10-16	official text ↗

Where the official text and a secondary summary disagree, this page follows the official text and says so. Where a provision admits of more than one reading, that is flagged rather than smoothed over.

When you need a lawyer instead of a tool

A self-help guide is the right starting point for understanding your position. Get legal help if:

• You have received an eviction notice — the timeline is now court-driven
• The dispute involves discrimination, unsafe conditions or retaliation
• Your landlord has filed anything in court already
• You are unsure whether a local ordinance changes the state rule

Local legal aid organisations and tenant unions offer free help for qualifying cases. They are independent of this site — we list them because they are the right place to go, not because they link here.

More Wisconsin guides

Wisconsin Security Deposit Return · Wisconsin Security Deposit Rules · Wisconsin Eviction Process · Wisconsin Rent Increase Rules · Wisconsin Repairs & Habitability

→ All Wisconsin tenant rights topics

Common questions