Sun Prairie, WI Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

100(A), a dwelling is unfit for human habitation only when two things are true at once: the building inspector finds an immediate hazard to health, safety or welfare, and one of the listed defects exists, damage, decay, dilapidation, unsanitary or unsafe conditions, vermin infestation, hazardous lead paint, or lack of required light, ventilation or sanitation. Once that finding is made, the inspector placards the unit, gives an occupied unit no less than twenty-four hours and no more than three days to vacate, and bars reoccupancy until the inspector removes the placard in writing.

Removing or defacing a placard without authorization is itself a violation. Demolition of a condemned dwelling follows Wis. 05, the state's raze-or-repair statute. 090 requires a written notice of violation describing the defects and setting a correction deadline: at least thirty days for non-life-threatening conditions, and never more than one hundred twenty days without sign-off from the property maintenance board of appeals. An owner, occupant, operator or agent aggrieved by a notice or order has ten days to apply to that five-member board, appointed by the mayor with common council consent to staggered three-year terms.

The board must set a hearing within ten days of the appeal and give five days' notice, and by majority vote it can sustain, modify or withdraw the order, or grant an extension of up to eighteen months or a variance if the owner shows a practical difficulty peculiar to the property. 120 lets the inspector skip notice and hearing entirely when an emergency threatens life or safety, though the owner can still demand a post-hoc hearing that does not stay the abatement.