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Wisconsin Legislature: AB1064: Bill Text
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AB1064: Bill Text
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2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
LRB-4605/1
ARG:skw
2025 ASSEMBLY BILL 1064
February 26, 2026 - Introduced by Representatives
Palmeri
,
Clancy
,
McCarville
,
Sinicki
,
Stroud
and
Stubbs
, cosponsored by Senators
Wall
,
Ratcliff
,
Roys
and
Spreitzer
. Referred to Committee on Housing and Real Estate.
AB1064,1,4
1
An Act
to renumber and amend
704.085 (2);
to amend
704.085 (1);
to create
2
704.052 and 704.085 (2) (b) of the statutes;
relating to:
prohibiting landlords
3
from charging application fees and credit checks and background checks
4
obtained by landlords.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill prohibits landlords from charging application fees to prospective tenants. The bill also modifies certain requirements when a landlord charges a fee to a tenant for a credit check or background check.
Current statutes do not specifically address application fees charged by a landlord for consideration of a rental application. However, the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has promulgated rules defining an “earnest money deposit” as the total of all payments or deposits “given by a prospective tenant to a landlord in return for the option of entering into a rental agreement in the future, or for having a rental agreement considered by a landlord,” which includes an application fee. DATCP rules require a landlord to fully refund an earnest money deposit if 1) the landlord rejects the rental application or refuses to enter into a rental agreement with the applicant; 2) the applicant withdraws the rental application before the landlord accepts the application; or 3) the landlord fails to approve the rental application within a specified period. If the landlord approves the application and the applicant fails to enter into the rental agreement, the landlord generally may withhold from the earnest money deposit an amount sufficient to compensate the landlord for actual costs and damages incurred because of the prospective tenant’s failure to enter into the rental agreement. If the applicant enters into the rental agreement, the landlord must apply the earnest money deposit as rent or as a security deposit or return it to the tenant.
The bill prohibits a landlord from charging a prospective tenant an application fee or accepting earnest money from a prospective tenant any portion of which includes an application fee. The bill defines an “application fee” as any charge or fee imposed by a landlord on a prospective tenant for the landlord’s review and consideration of an application for tenancy under a rental agreement. An application fee does not include an authorized credit check or background check fee (discussed below).
Under current law, a landlord may require a prospective tenant to pay the landlord’s actual cost, up to $25, to obtain a credit report on a prospective tenant. If the prospective tenant is not a Wisconsin resident, the landlord may also require the prospective tenant to pay the landlord’s actual cost, up to $25, to obtain a background check. Before requesting a credit report, a landlord must notify the prospective tenant of the charge. The landlord may not require a prospective tenant to pay for a credit report if the prospective tenant provides the landlord with a credit report that is less than 30 days old before the landlord requests a credit report from a credit reporting agency. A landlord that requests a credit report or background check must provide the prospective tenant with a copy.
The bill requires a landlord to give a prospective tenant a reasonable opportunity to provide to the landlord a credit report before the landlord may charge the tenant for the cost of obtaining a credit report from a credit reporting agency. The bill also allows the tenant to provide a credit report that is less than six months old, rather than 30 days old. The bill creates similar provisions for background checks. The bill also establishes a time frame for a landlord to provide to a prospective tenant a copy of a credit report or background check report obtained by the landlord and charged to the tenant and allows the tenant to specify whether the copy is provided in digital or print format or both.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:
AB1064,1
1
Section
1
.
704.052 of the statutes is created to read:
AB1064,3,2
2
704.052
Application fees prohibited.
(1)
In this section, “application fee”
3
means any charge or fee imposed by a landlord on a prospective tenant for the
4
landlord’s review and consideration of an application for tenancy under a rental
1
agreement. “Application fee” does not include a credit check or background check
2
fee authorized under s. 704.085.
AB1064,3,5
3
(2)
A landlord may not charge a prospective tenant an application fee or
4
accept earnest money from a prospective tenant any portion of which includes an
5
application fee.
AB1064,2
6
Section
2
.
704.085 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB1064,3,17
7
704.085
(1)
(a) Except as provided under par. (b), a landlord may require a
8
prospective tenant to pay the landlord’s actual cost, up to $25, to obtain a consumer
9
credit report on the prospective tenant from a consumer credit reporting agency
10
that compiles and maintains files on consumers on a nationwide basis. The
11
landlord shall notify the prospective tenant of the
proposed
charge
, and provide the
12
prospective tenant a reasonable opportunity to provide a consumer credit report
13
under par. (b),
before requesting the consumer credit report
, and
. If a landlord
14
charges a tenant for a consumer credit report under this paragraph, the landlord
15
shall provide the prospective tenant with a copy of the report
, in digital or print
16
format or both as requested by the prospective tenant, within 7 business days after
17
the date the landlord receives the consumer credit report
.
AB1064,3,22
18
(b) A landlord may not require a prospective tenant to pay for a consumer
19
credit report under par. (a) if, before the landlord requests a consumer credit report,
20
the prospective tenant provides the landlord with a consumer credit report, from a
21
consumer credit reporting agency that compiles and maintains files on consumers
22
on a nationwide basis, that is less than
30 days
6 months
old.
AB1064,3
23
Section
3
.
704.085 (2) of the statutes is renumbered 704.085 (2) (a) and
24
amended to read:
AB1064,4,10
1
704.085
(2)
(a)
A
Except as provided in par. (b), a
landlord may require a
2
prospective tenant who is not a resident of this state to pay the landlord’s actual
3
cost, up to $25, to obtain a background check on the prospective tenant. The
4
landlord shall notify the prospective tenant of the
proposed
charge
, and provide the
5
prospective tenant a reasonable opportunity to provide a background check report
6
under par. (b),
before requesting the background check
and
. If a landlord charges a
7
tenant for a background check report under this paragraph, the landlord
shall
8
provide the prospective tenant with a copy of the report
, in digital or print format or
9
both as requested by the prospective tenant, within 7 business days after the date
10
the landlord receives the background check report
.
AB1064,4
11
Section
4
.
704.085 (2) (b) of the statutes is created to read:
AB1064,4,15
12
704.085
(2)
(b) A landlord may not require a prospective tenant to pay for a
13
background check under par. (a) if, before the landlord requests a background
14
check, the prospective tenant provides the landlord with a background check report
15
received from any landlord that is less than 6 months old.
AB1064,5
16
Section
5
. Initial applicability.
AB1064,4,18
17
(
1
) This act first applies to rental applications submitted on the effective date
18
of this subsection.
AB1064,6
19
Section
6
. Effective date.
AB1064,4,21
20
(
1
) This act takes effect on the first day of the 3rd month beginning after
21
publication.
AB1064,4,22
22
(end)
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