Rental-property-owning Wisconsin GOP lawmaker sponsored bill that gutted tenants’ rights

Wisconsin state Sen. Duey Stroebel (R-Cedarburg) sponsored a 2013 law to gut tenants’ rights while owning over a dozen rental properties in the state.

Stroebel reported owning 12 different residential rental properties on his 2024 Statement of Economic Interests, including property in Milwaukee, Cedarburg and Saukville. In 2013, Stroebel sponsored Assembly Bill 183, one of many landlord-favored bills from that year which greatly benefitted landlords like himself.

According to his own testimony for the bill, Stroebel knowingly included rhetoric that prevented cities from creating laws calling for landlords to communicate with tenants beyond the baseline state laws. The bill also allowed landlords to withhold information about code violations from tenants, ro keep or sell personal property left behind by renters without notifying them and to hold tenants responsible for insect and/or pest infestation.

Stroebel’s bill also gave landlords an edge by remaking the legal process for evictions by expediting the process, shortening the timeframe for each step and allowing landlords to ask sheriffs to remove tenants faster.

AB 183 would have also allowed landlords to evict tenants if a crime was committed on the premises, even if the tenant could not have prevented the crime. In testimony against the bill, the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence argued that landlords would technically be allowed to evict victims of domestic abuse.

“We oppose Assembly Bill 183 because it would encourage lease provisions that penalize crime victims and will lead to crime victims being kicked out of their homes simply because they were victimized,” the testimony reads. “Under this bill, a landlord would be free to include the following language in a lease: ‘If a crime occurs on the property, even if the tenant is the victim of the crime and could not have prevented the crime, the landlord may evict the tenant.’ This is entirely unjust.”

Stroebel’s personal lawyer Kirsten Fagerland Pezewski testified in favor of the bill, arguing that it removed “burdensome” requirements of landlords.

“I am attorney [sic] in the State of Wisconsin with a private practice, and have handled landlord-tenant matters for over 15 years, primarily on behalf of landlord,” Pezewski testified. “I became aware of this bill from Representative Duey Stroebel, who I have represented in landlord-tenant matters for several years.”

According to court records, Pezewski helped Stroebel evict several tenants in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

At the time, Stroebel was criticized for his bill being a conflict of interest. One of the provisions also eliminated the landlord registration program, which required all commercial property owners to record ownership information with the city Department of Neighborhood Services. As of 2024, Stroebel owns four commercial rental properties in Ozaukee, Wis.

The bill was signed into law as Wisconsin Act 76 by then-Gov. Scott Walker (R) on Dec. 12, 2013.

Stroebel is seeking his third term in the Wisconsin state Senate, where he will be running for reelection in the 8^th District. According to Civic Media’s 2024 Voter Guide, Stroebel is facing his first competitive race in nearly a decade after running unopposed in 2016 and 2020. Civic Media rates the contest as a tossup as Stroebel will face Democratic challenger Jodi Habush Sinykin.