Fitchburg, WI Rental Inspections: Tenant Complaint Process (2026)

Under Chapter 72, Division 3 of the Fitchburg Code, a landlord must give written notice of any outstanding code violation affecting a rental unit before signing a lease, and the Building Inspection Department publishes a weekly list of rental addresses with uncorrected rent-impairing violations in the official city paper within ten days of a reinspection that finds noncompliance (§ 72-281). A tenant at one of those addresses has 30 calendar days from that publication to start the complaint process by filing a written request for a hearing with the Building Inspection Department under § 72-366.

The request must be on a form approved by the Rent Abatement Oversight Committee, name the landlord, describe the alleged violation, and be accompanied by a filing fee waivable on a sworn affidavit of economic hardship. Within ten calendar days the department assigns a Rent Abatement Hearing Examiner and mails notice of the hearing date to both landlord and tenant at least ten days before it is held; the hearing cannot occur before the 30-day filing window closes. The hearing examiner can administer oaths, issue subpoenas under Wis.

01, and mediate before a formal hearing (§ 72-367). At the hearing the tenant must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the landlord missed the correction deadline (§ 72-368(c)). A written decision is mailed within seven calendar days (§ 72-369(c)); abatement can reach up to 95 percent of rent for the affected period (§ 72-345). Either party may petition for reconsideration within ten calendar days (§ 72-370) or seek judicial review within 30 calendar days (§ 72-373).