Wisconsin HOA laws

Wisconsin HOA and Condo Laws, in Plain English

Wisconsin has one statute that govern community associations: Condominium Ownership Act. Here is what each covers, who it applies to, and the rules that come with a sale, with a link to the official text of every one.

A summary for boards and owners, not a substitute for the statute or your attorney. Every act links to its official text, and the association that acts on a rule is responsible for reading it.

The actsWhen a home sellsQuestions

HOA laws

Wisconsin

WI
Condominium Ownership Act
Resale documentDisclosure Materials
Fee cap$50
Deadline10 days
Buyer may cancel5 days after receiving them

The Acts, and Who Each One Covers

Community type decides which act applies, and a community created before an act took effect may still be under the older one. The declaration says which.

Wis. Stat. 703 (Condominium Ownership Act)

Condominiums

Wis. Stat. Chapter 703 governs the creation, governance, and operation of condominiums in Wisconsin, applying to all condominium properties in the state regardless of when they were formed. It covers declarations, unit owner associations and bylaws, budgets and assessments, liens for unpaid common expenses, association records, and the disclosures a seller must give a buyer on resale of a unit. Wisconsin has no comparable statutory act for non-condominium homeowners associations, planned communities, or housing cooperatives; those instead operate under recorded covenants and general nonstock corporation or cooperative association law.

  • Wis. Stat. 703.33 (Disclosure requirements)

    Requires the seller of a condominium unit to a member of the public to furnish the purchaser, no later than 15 days before closing, the disclosure materials: the declaration, bylaws, and rules; the articles of incorporation; management, employment, and other contracts; the projected annual operating budget with the purchaser's estimated monthly payments; leases the unit owners or association are party to; the declarant's expansion plans; the unit's floor plan and a map of the condominium; and an executive summary of sixteen items in plain language. The materials take a form the statute prescribes: a cover sheet titled Disclosure Materials with the condominium's name and location, the seller's name and address, and three capitalized statements (the legal-documents warning, the reliance statement, and the five-business-day cancellation right), an index in the statute's words, the executive summary immediately after the index, tables of contents for the declaration and bylaws, and lettered sections paginated with the section shown. The association furnishes the information within 10 days of a non-declarant seller's written request for the actual cost or $50, whichever is less (more only under 703.205), plus the actual cost or $15 for amendments. The purchaser may rescind within 5 business days after receiving all the documents or any material amendment, may request missing documents when the set is incomplete, cannot waive the right, and loses it at closing. A seller who makes an untrue statement of material fact is liable to the purchaser. Units primarily for nonresidential use are exempt, and the materials may be delivered electronically.

    Official text

  • Wis. Stat. 703.335 (Payoff statement for assessments)

    Requires the association, on request from a unit owner or an authorized representative, to provide a written statement of all amounts the owner owes the association as of a specified date, serving as the payoff statement used in a sale or refinance. The statute sets a deadline for the association to respond and caps the fee it may charge for the statement, with at least one statement available at no charge within a given period.

    Official text

  • Wis. Stat. 703.165 (Lien for unpaid common expenses)

    Makes assessments, interest, and collection costs a lien on the unit when a statement of condominium lien is filed within two years, with priority behind taxes and a prior first mortgage. Entitles any grantee of a unit to a statement from the association of the unpaid assessments against the grantor: the grantee is not liable, and the unit is not subject to an unfiled lien, beyond the amount stated, and an association that does not provide the statement within 10 business days of the grantee's request is barred from claiming an unfiled lien against the grantee. Also prescribes the form of the statement of condominium lien.

    Official text

  • Wis. Stat. 703.205 (Establishing fee amounts)

    Lets an association charge more than the $50 limit for furnishing disclosure information under 703.33, or a fee for the first payoff statement in a two-month period under 703.335, only by adopting a written resolution at a meeting noticed to unit owners at least 48 hours ahead and giving owners written notice of the fee within 48 hours after adoption. A management contract that lets the manager begin charging or increase such a fee takes the same procedure.

    Official text

  • Wis. Stat. 703.365 (Small condominiums)

    Optional simplified rules a declaration may adopt for a condominium of 12 units or fewer. For such a condominium the disclosure required on a sale under 703.33 is limited to the declaration, bylaws, rules, articles, contracts, budget, and leases described in 703.33(1)(a) to (e), plus a copy of the condominium plat; the executive summary and expansion and floor plan items do not apply.

    Official text
Read Wis. Stat. 703 on the state's site

When a Home Sells in Wisconsin

Wisconsin law has the association furnish disclosure materials to the buyer, under Wis. Stat. 703.33. The figures below come from the rules Havn applies to every order.

What Wisconsin calls the resale document
Disclosure Materials
Fee cap
$50
Delivery deadline
10 days
Buyer's right to cancel
5 days after receiving them

On a request by a unit owner, or by a person the owner authorizes, the association must furnish a written payoff statement of all unpaid assessments and other monetary obligations, as of a date the request names up to 30 days out, within 10 business days after the request is submitted (Wis. Stat. 703.335(2), (3)).

The full Wisconsin resale rules, who pays, and how to order are on the Wisconsin disclosure materials page. Every state's cap and deadline sit side by side in the fee and deadline table.

Wisconsin HOA Law Questions

Which law governs condominiums in Wisconsin?

Wis. Stat. 703 (Condominium Ownership Act). Wis.

Does Wisconsin cap the fee for a resale certificate?

Yes. The cap is $50. The current figure, and the rush and delinquency surcharges where the state allows them, are on the Wisconsin resale page and in the fee table.

How long does a Wisconsin association have to deliver disclosure materials?

10 days, counted from the request.

Where can I read the Wisconsin statutes?

Each act on this page links to its official text on the state legislature's site. Havn summarizes the law and links to the source rather than restating it.

Nearby States

Illinois HOA laws

Resale fee: $375 · 10 business days

Minnesota HOA laws

Resale fee: no fixed dollar cap · 10 days

Michigan HOA laws

Resale fee: no fixed dollar cap · no statutory deadline

Keep Reading

Guides

Templates

  • HOA Annual Meeting Notice TemplateA free HOA annual meeting notice template: date, place, agenda, the election, quorum, and the proxy or ballot enclosed, written to meet the notice window in your bylaws.
  • HOA Violation Notice TemplateA free HOA violation letter template: the rule cited, what was observed and when, the photo, the cure date, what happens next, and how the owner can respond or request a hearing.
  • HOA Dues Increase and Special Assessment Notice TemplateA free HOA letter template for a dues increase or a special assessment: the new amount and when it starts, why, the payment schedule, how to pay, and where to ask questions.
  • HOA Proxy Form TemplateA free HOA proxy form template: the owner, the home, the proxy holder, the meeting, directed instructions on each item, the expiration, and the signature.

Terms to Know

  • Resale certificateThe disclosure package an HOA or condo association furnishes when a home in the community is sold: what is owed, what is coming, and the documents that govern the home.
  • HOA lienThe association's legal claim on a home for unpaid assessments, created by the declaration and, in most states, by statute.
  • Super lienIn roughly twenty states, a slice of the association's assessment lien that takes priority over the first mortgage, usually a set number of months of assessments.
  • QuorumThe minimum number of owners, or share of the votes, that must be present or represented for a meeting to act.
  • Special assessmentA one-time charge beyond the regular assessment, levied to cover a shortfall or a project the budget and the reserves cannot: a roof, a lawsuit, a storm.

In Havn

  • Self-Managed HOAsEverything a volunteer board needs, for a dollar a home a month.
  • AccountingFund accounting, budgets, bank feeds, payables, and owner statements.
  • CommunicationsMeeting notices, violation letters, and dues notices by email, text, and mail, with delivery logged.

Run a Wisconsin community with the rules built in.

HOA management software with a homeowner portal owners actually use. Resale documents are included; the requester pays for each one.

Get Started FreeSee the Homeowner Portal