Terms Used In Wisconsin Statutes 895.489

  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
  • State: when applied to states of the United States, includes the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the several territories organized by Congress. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
   (1)    In this section:
      (a)    “Reference” means a written or oral statement about the rental performance of an applicant for tenancy and may include statements about the applicant’s payment history, conformance to rental agreement requirements, or conformance to local and state laws; factual statements regarding any rental agreement enforcement actions, including notices given under s. 704.17, 704.19, or 710.15 (5r); and factual statements about any dispute settlement between the landlord and applicant in accordance with any agreement between the landlord and applicant relating to termination of the applicant’s tenancy.
      (b)    “Tenant” means a residential tenant, regardless of the type of tenancy or rental period.
   (2)   A landlord who, on the request of a prospective landlord of an applicant for tenancy or on the request of the applicant for tenancy, provides a reference to the prospective landlord is presumed to be acting in good faith and, unless lack of good faith is shown by clear and convincing evidence, is immune from all civil liability that may result from providing that reference. The presumption of good faith under this subsection may be rebutted only upon a showing by clear and convincing evidence that the landlord knowingly provided false information in the reference or made the reference maliciously.