How to Fill Out and Serve a Wisconsin Eviction Notice Form

A Wisconsin eviction notice is the written termination the landlord must deliver before filing in court, and getting the type, contents, delivery, and day count right is what keeps the case alive. Chapter 704 of the Wisconsin Statutes controls every piece of it. A defect anywhere in the notice is the single most common reason judges dismiss eviction cases, and each dismissal costs another $94.50 filing fee to restart.¹

Pick the Right Notice for Your Tenancy

Wisconsin Statute 704.17 ties the required notice to two things: the length of the tenancy and the reason you want to end it. Match the situation before you write anything.

Month-to-Month and Week-to-Week Tenancies

For unpaid rent, you can give a 5-day notice with the right to cure, meaning the tenant can pay the full amount owed and stay. If you would rather not offer that option, a 14-day notice to vacate works instead, but it cannot give the tenant a chance to remain.²

For other lease violations, such as unauthorized occupants, property damage, or a prohibited pet, you can choose a 5-day cure notice or a 14-day unconditional notice. The 5-day cure version carries a built-in escalation: if the tenant fixes the problem but commits the same or any other lease violation again within one year, you can then issue a 14-day notice with no cure option.²

Leases of One Year or Less and Year-to-Year Tenancies

For unpaid rent, a 5-day notice with the right to cure applies. If the tenant pays but defaults on rent again within one year, you can issue a 14-day unconditional notice. For other lease violations, the same 5-day cure and 14-day unconditional structure is available, with the same one-year repeat-violation escalation.²

Leases Longer Than One Year

When rent goes unpaid under a lease exceeding one year, you must provide a 30-day notice before filing. For other breaches, a 30-day notice with a right to cure is required. A repeat violation within one year after a cured default allows a shorter notice, but the initial threshold is always 30 days.²

Criminal or Drug Activity

Section 704.17(3m) allows an accelerated 5-day notice with no cure option when a tenant, household member, or guest engages in criminal activity that threatens the health or safety of other tenants, neighbors, or the landlord, or engages in drug-related criminal activity on or near the property.³ This reaches any criminal conduct creating a safety threat, not only drug offenses.

Ending a Month-to-Month Tenancy Without Cause

When nothing has gone wrong and you simply want to end a month-to-month arrangement, a different statute applies. Under Wisconsin Statute 704.19, you must give at least 28 days’ notice, and the termination date has to fall on the last day of a rental period. For a tenant who pays on the first of the month, the notice must land at least 28 days before the last day of a given month.⁴

What the Notice Has to Say

The notice must be in writing. Texts, emails, and other electronic messages count only if the lease specifically permits electronic notice.⁵ A verbal warning has no legal effect under Chapter 704, however many times you repeat it.

Every notice should include:

The tenant names and the rental property address.
What the tenant did wrong, whether that is unpaid rent (with the amount owed) or a specific lease violation.
Whether the tenant has a right to cure and stay, or must vacate with no option to remedy.
The number of days the tenant has, and the date by which they must pay, fix the violation, or move out.

For unpaid-rent notices, Wisconsin defines “rent” to include both past-due rent and any late fees owed on that past-due rent.² The lease does not need to label late fees as additional rent for them to be included.

If you list the wrong dollar amount, the notice is still valid in most cases. It becomes defective only if the incorrect amount was intentional, or if the tenant pays what they reasonably believe is actually owed.² Even so, getting the figure right the first time avoids disputes at the hearing. The Wisconsin Court System publishes standardized eviction forms you can use as templates.

How to Deliver the Notice

Wisconsin Statute 704.21 lists the acceptable delivery methods, and skipping them puts the whole case at risk. Personal delivery produces the cleanest proof, but the statute does not rank the methods.

Personal and Substitute Service

Hand the notice directly to the tenant. If the tenant is not available, you can leave it with a family member who is at least 14 years old and lives in the unit, after telling that person what the document is.⁶ You can also leave it with someone who appears to be in charge of the premises, again after explaining its contents.⁷

Mail

The statute permits mailing the notice to the tenant’s last known address by first-class or certified mail.⁷ Certified mail with a return receipt gives you tracking if the tenant later denies receipt. When notice is served by mail, Section 801.15 adds three extra days to the prescribed period.⁸

Post and Mail

When personal service, substitute service, and mailing have all failed after reasonable efforts, you can post the notice in a conspicuous spot on the property (typically the front door) and mail a copy to the tenant’s last known address at the same time.⁶ A court will want to know what you tried first, so document every attempt, visit, and call.

Whichever method you use, write down the date, time, and manner of delivery. If someone else serves it, have them record the same details and sign. The court will ask how and when the tenant received the notice when you file.

Count the Days Correctly

Wisconsin’s counting rules catch landlords who file too early. Under Section 801.15, the day you serve the notice does not count as day one; the clock starts the next day.⁸

For notice periods of 10 days or fewer, which includes the common 5-day notice, Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays are excluded from the count.⁸ A 5-day notice served on a Wednesday does not expire the following Monday; the weekend days are skipped. The Tenant Resource Center recommends landlords use this conservative counting method so a judge does not toss the notice on a technicality.⁹

For 14-day and longer notices, weekends and holidays are included in the count, but the final day still cannot fall on a day the clerk of courts office is closed.

Mistakes That Get Cases Dismissed

Judges look for technical defects before reaching the merits. If the notice is flawed, the landlord loses no matter how clear the underlying violation.¹⁰

Wrong notice type: using a 5-day cure notice when the tenant already used their cure chance on the same violation within the past year, or using a 14-day notice on a lease longer than one year when 30 days was required.
Filing too early: submitting the court complaint before the full notice period has run, including the exclusion of weekends and holidays for short notices.
Improper service: leaving the notice under the doormat without mailing a copy, or handing it to a child under 14.
No written notice: a verbal demand to leave does not satisfy Chapter 704.
Missing cure language: if the notice type requires offering a right to cure and the notice does not say so, a court can find it defective.
Retaliatory timing: filing shortly after the tenant complained to a code enforcement agency invites a retaliation defense under Section 704.45.

If the Tenant Doesn’t Comply

Once the notice period expires and the tenant has not cured or vacated, you can file a small claims eviction action in the county where the property sits. Filing before the deadline runs is premature, and courts dismiss premature cases, which means paying the $94.50 fee again to start over.¹ A party to the case cannot personally serve the summons and complaint; a process server or another adult has to deliver them and complete a declaration of service.¹¹

Defenses That Can Block or Delay the Eviction

Retaliation

Section 704.45 prohibits evictions in retaliation for reporting housing code violations, complaining to the landlord about maintenance, or exercising any other legal right tied to the tenancy. A court can dismiss the case if the eviction would not have happened but for the tenant’s complaint or legal action.¹² The exception is genuine nonpayment of rent, as long as the rent in question was not itself a retaliatory increase.

Active-Duty Military Tenants

The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act prevents landlords from evicting active-duty servicemembers or their dependents without a court order when the monthly rent is $10,542.60 or less (the 2026 threshold, adjusted annually for inflation).¹³ This applies regardless of lease type or notice period, and the eviction complaint must include a declaration of non-military service or a request for a hearing to proceed.

The Tenant’s Right to Cure

When your notice gives the tenant a right to cure, the tenant preserves the tenancy by paying in full or taking reasonable steps to fix the violation before the deadline. A tenant who promptly begins repairs and works with reasonable diligence is generally considered to be complying, even if the repair is not finished on the deadline date.² Once a 14-day unconditional notice is served, or after the cure period on a 5-day notice expires, paying the balance owed no longer stops the eviction.

1
Wisconsin Court System. Wisconsin Circuit Court Fee, Forfeiture, Fine and Surcharge Tables
2
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 704.17 – Notice Terminating Tenancies
3
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 704.17 – Termination of Tenancy
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Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 704.19 – Notice Terminating Periodic Tenancies
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Wisconsin Law Help. What Eviction Notice is the Landlord Required to Give You?
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Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 704.21 – Manner of Giving Notice
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Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 704.21 – Manner of Giving Notice
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Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 801.15 – Time
9
Tenant Resource Center. How to Count (Days in a Notice)
10
Wisconsin Law Help. Tenant Defenses for Eviction
11
Wisconsin Court System. Declaration of Service of SC-500, Summons and Complaint Eviction (Small Claims)
12
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 704.45 – Retaliatory Conduct in Residential Tenancies Prohibited
13
Federal Register. Notice of Publication of Housing Price Inflation Adjustment