Wisconsin Mobile Home Park Eviction Process: A Step-by-Step Guide

Wisconsin limits mobile-home lot evictions to specific grounds

In Wisconsin, a mobile-home LOT tenancy — where the resident rents the pad and owns the home — is governed by Wis. Stat. §710.15. Under §710.15(5m), you may not terminate a tenancy or deny a lease renewal except upon an enumerated list of good-cause grounds. There is no lawful no-cause eviction of a lot tenant.

Those grounds include nonpayment of rent, taxes, or other charges (§710.15(5m)(a)); disorderly conduct; vandalism or waste; breach of a lease term; violation of community rules or of federal, state, or local law after written notice to cease; permanent retirement of the community or a site; material misrepresentation on the application; and other good cause.

The eviction process itself is not in Chapter 710. Termination notices follow Wis. Stat. §704.17 — applied to lot tenancies by §710.15(5r) — and the court eviction runs under the small-claims procedure in Chapter 799 in the county Circuit Court.

Nonpayment of rent: the 5-day (or 14-day) notice

Nonpayment is a valid ground under §710.15(5m)(a). Section 710.15(5r) then sends you to §704.17 for the notice. For a lot lease of one year or less or a year-to-year tenancy, §704.17(2)(a) requires a written notice giving the resident at least 5 days to pay the rent or vacate.

If the same resident defaults again within one year of a prior 5-day notice, §704.17(2)(a) lets you serve a 14-day notice to vacate with no right to cure. For a month-to-month (periodic) lot tenant, §704.17(1p)(a) gives you a choice: a 5-day pay-or-vacate notice, or, in the alternative, a straight 14-day notice to vacate. Leases longer than one year require at least 30 days under §704.17(3).

Count the days after service — do not count the day you serve the notice — and keep dated proof of service. Only if the resident fails to pay or vacate within the notice period can you move to file.

Other lease or community-rule violations

For grounds other than nonpayment — lease breaches, waste, disorderly conduct, and community-rule or law violations under §710.15(5m)(b) through (k) — §710.15(5r) applies §704.17(1p)(b), (2)(b), and (3). In practice, a periodic or one-year-or-less lot tenant generally gets a 5-day notice to remedy the default or vacate.

If the resident repeats the same type of violation within one year, §704.17 allows a 14-day notice to vacate without a further chance to cure. Leases over one year require 30 days.

There is an extra step for rule and law violations: §710.15(5m)(e) and (em) require you to first deliver written notice to cease the violation before that ground can support termination. Skipping the cease notice is a common and fatal defect.

Filing, judgment, and removing a resident-owned home

When the notice period expires with no payment or cure, you file a small-claims eviction action in the county Circuit Court under Chapter 799. At the hearing, if the court finds that the plaintiff is entitled to possession, §799.44(1) says it shall immediately enter an order for judgment for the restitution of the premises, and §799.44(2) says it shall immediately order that a writ of restitution be issued.

The writ goes to the sheriff: under §799.44(2) it cannot be executed if the sheriff receives it more than 30 days after issuance, and §799.45 directs the sheriff to carry it out within 10 days of receipt. The court may grant the resident a hardship stay of the writ for up to 30 days from the order for judgment (§799.44(3)).

A critical MHP-specific point: the resident owns the mobile home. Wisconsin has no special statutory grace period for removing a resident-owned home after a for-cause eviction — the only 90-day window in §710.15(5r) is the notice you must give before permanently closing the community or a lot. Because relocating a home is slow and expensive, the removal logistics, not a separate legal clock, are usually the real bottleneck, which is why cash-for-keys is common.

Typical timeline in Wisconsin

• Serve the correct statutory notice
  5-day pay-or-vacate for a first nonpayment (or a 14-day notice for month-to-month or a repeat default); 5-day remedy-or-vacate for other lease or rule breaches. §704.17, applied via §710.15(5r).
• Notice period runs
  At least 5 or 14 days depending on tenancy type and ground — 30 days for leases over one year. Days are counted after service; do not count the day of service.
• File the eviction in Circuit Court
  If the resident does not pay or cure, file a Chapter 799 small-claims eviction; the initial return date is typically set within roughly one to two weeks of filing.
• Court hearing and judgment
  If you prove entitlement to possession, the court shall immediately enter an order for judgment for the restitution of the premises and order the writ of restitution (§799.44(1)-(2)).
• Possible hardship stay
  The court may stay issuance of the writ for up to 30 days if it finds hardship (§799.44(3)).
• Writ delivered to the sheriff
  The writ cannot be executed if the sheriff receives it more than 30 days after issuance (§799.44(2)); the sheriff executes within 10 days of receipt (§799.45).
• Resident's home is removed as their property
  The resident owns the home, so it stays theirs; plan for the logistics and cost of relocating a large structure — this is the practical bottleneck, not a separate legal window.

Operator best practices in Wisconsin

• Terminate only on a §710.15(5m) ground
  Wisconsin lot tenants cannot be no-cause evicted; document which enumerated ground — nonpayment, breach, rule violation, waste, and so on — applies before serving any notice.
• Match the notice to the tenancy type and ground
  Use §704.17(1p), (2), and (3) exactly: 5-day pay-or-vacate versus 14-day versus 30-day. Serving the wrong notice is the most common reason MHP evictions get dismissed.
• Give the required notice to cease first
  For community-rule or law violations, §710.15(5m)(e) and (em) require prior written notice to cease before the breach can support termination.
• Never charge entrance or pay-to-play fees
  Wis. Admin. Code ch. ATCP 125 prohibits entrance fees and site advantage payments; violations expose you to double damages plus costs and attorney fees.
• Give 90 days' notice before closing a community or lot
  §710.15(5r) requires at least 90 days' written notice to all known residents before permanently retiring the community or a site.
• Keep clean rent ledgers and dated proof of service
  The day-count starts from service; retain affidavits, certified-mail receipts, and a precise ledger so the 5-, 14-, or 30-day math survives a challenge.
• Offer cash-for-keys where it pencils out
  Because the resident owns the home and moving it is slow and costly, a negotiated cash-for-keys or lot-purchase deal is often faster and cheaper than a contested Chapter 799 eviction. This is market practice, not a legal requirement.
• Build a relationship with a Wisconsin MHP attorney
  The interplay of Chapters 710, 704, and 799 is unforgiving on notice defects; have Wisconsin counsel who knows manufactured-home community law review your notices and forms before you file.