Can a domestic violence victim end a lease early in Wisconsin?

In Wisconsin, a residential tenant who, or whose child, faces an imminent threat of serious physical harm from another person, or who or whose child was sexually assaulted, may end the tenancy and move out by giving the landlord notice in the manner the statute requires and a certified copy of an injunction order, a no-contact condition of release, or a criminal complaint for stalking, sexual assault or a domestic abuse offense, and owes no rent after the end of the month following the month of the notice or the move-out, whichever is later. The tenant’s liability for rent is subject to the landlord’s duty to mitigate damages. At the request of a tenant who provides a certified copy of one of those documents, the landlord must change the locks, or give the tenant permission to change them, within 48 hours; the tenant pays for the change and must give the landlord a key if the tenant changes the lock. If the person named in the document is also a tenant of the same premises, the landlord need not change the locks unless the document directs that person to avoid the requesting tenant’s residence or orders no contact, and that person stays liable under the rental agreement. A landlord is not liable for civil damages for complying with the lock rule. A landlord may also end the tenancy of an offending tenant named in such a document with a written notice to vacate at least 5 days later. This is Wis. Stat. § 704.16.

WhatWisconsin
Ending the lease earlyNotice with a certified injunction, release order or charge

What the statute says

“… the tenant shall not be liable for any rent after the end of the month following the month in which he or she provides the notice or removes from the premises, whichever is later.”

Quoted word for word from the section’s text.

Source

Wis. Stat. § 704.16

Read the statute in the Wisconsin Statutes (Wisconsin State Legislature): docs.legis.wisconsin.gov.

Checked against the statute on November 15, 2026.

This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.

How Seayora uses this rule

Seayora keeps every lease’s term, rent and signers in one record and dates every change to it. This page states the state’s rule so a lease’s own early-termination and sublet clauses can be checked against it before the lease is signed.

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