Chapter 823

823.23(2)(i) (i) If the court is unable to appoint a receiver from one of the entities listed in par. (h), the court may appoint as a receiver any other person that the court determines to be competent.

823.23(2)(j) (j) A receiver appointed by the court pursuant to this section shall not be required to give security or bond as a condition of the appointment.

823.23(3) (3) Authority of receiver; financing agreements; fee.

823.23(3)(a) (a) A receiver appointed under sub. (2) (h) or (i) shall have the authority to do all of the following unless specifically limited by the court:

823.23(3)(a)1. 1. Take possession and control of the residential property including the right to enter into and terminate tenancies, manage and maintain the property under chs. 704 and 799 and rules related to residential rental practices promulgated under s. 100.20 (2), and charge and collect rents derived from the residential property, applying the sum of those rents to the costs incurred due to the abatement and receivership.

823.23(3)(a)2. 2. Negotiate contracts and pay all expenses associated with operation and conservation of the residential property including all utility, fuel, custodial, repair, or insurance expenses.

823.23(3)(a)3. 3. Pay all accrued property taxes, penalties, assessments, and other charges imposed on the residential property by a unit of government including any charges accruing during the pendency of the receivership.

823.23(3)(a)4. 4. Dispose of any or all abandoned personal property found at the residential property.

823.23(3)(a)5. 5. Enter into contracts and pay for the performance of any work necessary to complete the abatement.

823.23(3)(b) (b) In addition to the powers under par. (a), the receiver may, under such terms and conditions as a court shall allow, enter into financing agreements with public or private lenders and encumber the property so as to have moneys available to abate the nuisance. The receiver may give a holder of a purchase money security interest who received notice under sub. (2) the first opportunity to lend the money under this paragraph.

823.23(3)(c) (c) A receiver may charge an administration fee at an hourly rate approved by the court or at a rate of 20 percent of the total cost of the abatement, whichever the court considers more appropriate.

823.23(4) (4) Limits on landlord authority.

823.23(4)(a) (a) In this subsection, “anticipated action” means a statement or statements by a person authorized by ordinance to bring an action under this section that leads a landlord to conclude that an action under this section may be commenced.

823.23(4)(b) (b) A landlord or receiver, or any agent of a landlord or receiver, of a residential rental unit that is the subject of any action, or anticipated action, to abate an alleged nuisance under this section may not with respect to the tenant of the rental unit, increase rent, decrease services, bring a court proceeding for possession of the unit, refuse to renew the rental agreement, or threaten or attempt to do any of the foregoing if the tenant, in a court proceeding commenced by the tenant, landlord, or receiver, establishes by a preponderance of the credible evidence that the foregoing conduct would not have occurred but for the bringing of an action for the abatement of a nuisance under this section with respect to the rental unit or the anticipation of such an action being brought. To prevail, the tenant must also establish by a preponderance of the evidence that one of the following applies:

823.23(4)(b)1. 1. No nuisance was found with respect to the rental unit.

823.23(4)(b)2. 2. The tenant was found not to cause a nuisance with respect to the rental unit.

823.23(4)(b)3. 3. If a nuisance exists under this section, the conduct specified in this paragraph is not necessary to abate the nuisance.

823.23(4)(d) (d) Any action or inaction by a landlord, receiver, or agent described in par. (b) is subject to chs. 704 and 799, and any court proceeding regarding such an action or inaction shall be heard by the following court:

823.23(4)(d)1. 1. If the court proceeding is brought by a receiver, by the court that appointed the receiver.

823.23(4)(d)2. 2. If the court proceeding is brought by the tenant or landlord, in small claims court as an eviction action.

823.23(4)(e) (e) In any action taken under par. (b), the notice given to the tenant must state the basis for the action and the right of the tenant to contest the action.

823.23(5) (5) Review of expenditures by court; lien for unpaid expenses.

823.23(5)(a) (a) All moneys the receiver expends and all of the costs and obligations that he or she incurs in performing the abatement, including the receiver’s administrative fee, shall be reviewed by the court for reasonableness and necessity. To the extent that the court finds the moneys, costs, or obligations to be reasonable and necessary, it shall issue an order reciting this fact as well as the amount found to be reasonable and necessary.

823.23(5)(b) (b) If all of the costs and obligations that the court found to be reasonable and necessary under par. (a) have not been paid, the court shall issue a judgment for the unpaid amount and file that judgment with the office of the clerk of court within 60 days after the receiver files a statement of those unpaid costs and obligations with the court and that judgment shall constitute a lien on the residential property from the date of the filing of the judgment.

823.23(6) (6) Effect on purchase money security interest of lien for unpaid abatement expenses.

823.23(6)(a) (a) The issuance of the notice under sub. (2) (b) shall constitute a default for waste under any purchase money security interest relating to the residential property subject to the notice, and if any violations of the building code listed in the notice are not corrected within 30 days after the mailing of the notice, the vendor, mortgagee, or beneficiary under any purchase money security interest may commence proceedings to exercise the remedies set forth in the purchase money security interest.

823.23(6)(b) (b) A lien created under sub. (5) (b) shall be prior and superior to any purchase money security interest in the residential property if all of the following apply to that purchase money security interest:

823.23(6)(b)1. 1. The city, village, or town gave the holder of the purchase money security interest and any vendee, mortgagor, or grantor under such purchase money security interest the notice under sub. (2) (b).

823.23(6)(b)2. 2. The holder of the purchase money security interest has not, prior to the appointment of a receiver under sub. (2) (g), initiated proceedings to foreclose the purchase money security interest, to abate the conditions resulting in issuance of the notice under sub. (2) (b) or to gain possession of the property.

823.23(6)(c) (c) Except for property tax liens, assessment liens, and purchase money security interests not included in par. (b), a lien created under sub. (5) (b) shall be prior and superior to all other liens, mortgages, and encumbrances against the residential property upon which it is imposed without regard to the date the other liens, mortgages, or encumbrances were attached to the residential property.

823.23(7) (7) Termination of receivership.

823.23(7)(a) (a) The receivership into which the court placed the residential property under sub. (2) (h) or (i) shall terminate only by an order of the court.

823.23(7)(b) (b) The court shall terminate the receivership if the residential property’s owner or owner’s agent or an interested party or the receiver show the court all of the following:

823.23(7)(b)1. 1. That the abatement has been completed.

823.23(7)(b)2. 2. That the costs and obligations incurred due to the abatement, including the receiver’s administrative fee, have been paid by an owner, owner’s agent, or interested party or that a lien has been filed pursuant to sub. (5).

823.23(7)(b)3. 3. That the owner, owner’s agent, or interested party will manage the residential property in conformance with applicable housing codes.

823.23(7)(c) (c) The court shall terminate the receivership if the receiver shows the court one of the following:

823.23(7)(c)1. 1. That the abatement is not feasible.

823.23(7)(c)2. 2. That the improvements on the property have been demolished by the city, village or town.

823.23 History History: 2001 a. 86; 2009 a. 125.