How many hours' notice must a landlord give before entering in Wisconsin?

12 hours. The notice need not be in writing and need not name an exact entry time, and the tenant may consent to shorter notice for a particular entry. The 12-hour floor comes from the administrative code, not from the statute.

What reasons allow a landlord to enter a rental in Wisconsin?

A landlord may enter only to inspect the premises, make repairs, or show the premises to prospective tenants or purchasers.

Can a landlord enter without notice in an emergency in Wisconsin?

Yes — Wisconsin recognizes an emergency exception to the entry-notice requirement.

Are there time-of-day limits on when a landlord can enter in Wisconsin?

Entry must be at 'reasonable times' (704.05(2), ATCP 134.09(2)). Neither layer fixes clock hours.

How much notice must a landlord give before entering in Wisconsin?

Verified August 5, 2026 All Wisconsin topics →

Wisconsin landlords must give at least 12 hours' advance notice before entering a rental unit, may enter only at reasonable times, and only to inspect, make repairs, or show the unit to prospective tenants or purchasers — unless the tenant agrees to shorter notice, requests or consents to the entry, a health or safety emergency exists, or the tenant is absent and entry is reasonably necessary to protect the premises from damage.

Cited to Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09 (2) and 3 more Wisconsin statutes · Verified August 5, 2026

The 12-hour figure comes from the administrative code (ATCP 134.09(2)), not the statutes: Wis. Stat. 704.05(2) itself requires only 'advance notice,' and it also lets a landlord enter without notice, with such force as appears necessary, when an absent tenant's unit needs protection. The notice does not have to be written or name an exact entry time, though a lease may authorize delivering it electronically (Wis. Stat. 704.10). On entering, the landlord must announce their presence and identify themselves on request, and an unlawful entry supports a tenant suit for double damages plus attorney fees under Wis. Stat. 100.20(5).

Wisconsin entry notice at a glance

Advance notice required	12 hours
Notice standard	The notice need not be in writing and need not name an exact entry time, and the tenant may consent to shorter notice for a particular entry. The 12-hour floor comes from the administrative code, not from the statute. Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09(2): 'Advance notice means at least 12 hours advance notice unless the tenant, upon being notified of the proposed entry, consents to a shorter time period.' The statute layer, Wis. Stat. 704.05(2), requires only unquantified 'advance notice' at 'reasonable times' — the 12-hour floor exists ONLY in the administrative code. The rule imposes no content requirements.
Permitted reasons	A landlord may enter only to inspect the premises, make repairs, or show the premises to prospective tenants or purchasers. Both layers set that list (Wis. Stat. 704.05(2); ATCP 134.09(2)). ATCP 134.09(2)(b) lifts the notice and purpose limits where: the tenant, knowing the proposed time of entry, requests or consents in advance to the entry; a health or safety emergency exists; or the tenant is absent and the landlord reasonably believes entry is necessary to protect the premises from damage (ATCP 134.09(2)(b)3.). That absent-tenant exception exists in BOTH layers, in slightly different words: Wis. Stat. 704.05(2) itself provides that when the tenant is absent and the landlord reasonably believes entry is necessary to 'preserve or protect the premises,' the landlord may enter without notice and 'with such force as appears necessary' — the statute and the code independently authorize the entry, and neither cite substitutes for the other. On any entry the landlord must first announce his or her presence to persons in the unit and identify himself or herself upon request (ATCP 134.09(2)(d)).
Emergency exception	Yes
Time-of-day restrictions	Entry must be at 'reasonable times' (704.05(2), ATCP 134.09(2)). Neither layer fixes clock hours.

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Wisconsin Landlord Entry Notice Laws (verified August 5, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/entry-notice/wisconsin/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Wisconsin statute in the citations section below.

Notes and caveats

The 12 hours comes from the code, not the statutes — ATCP 134.09(2) supplies the 12-hour floor, and a statute-only read of Wis. Stat. 704.05(2) yields no number at all — the flagship example of Wisconsin's two-layer structure. The 704.05(2) history line runs to 2013 Act 76, its last amendment; 2017 Act 317 did NOT touch it.
The tenant can shorten the 12 hours; the lease cannot — The floor drops only where the tenant consents to a shorter time period for a particular entry. It is not waivable in advance as a blanket lease term, because ATCP 134 rights cannot be contracted away.
The absent-tenant exception lives in both layers — Wis. Stat. 704.05(2) lets a landlord enter without notice, 'with such force as appears necessary,' when the tenant is absent and the landlord reasonably believes entry is necessary to preserve or protect the premises; ATCP 134.09(2)(b)3. states the same exception as a carve-out from the code's 12-hour notice rule, phrased as protecting the premises from damage. Sources citing either provision alone are citing real law — the statute supplies the force language, the code ties the exception to the notice floor.
Entry purposes are a closed list — Both layers allow entry only to inspect, repair, or show the unit. Entry to deliver a notice or to check on the tenant is not among them absent the tenant's consent.
The announce-and-identify duty summaries omit — On any entry the landlord must first announce his or her presence to persons in the unit and identify himself or herself upon request (ATCP 134.09(2)). The duty is real and routinely left out of summaries.
Entry notice can be emailed if the lease allows it — 2017 Act 317's entry-related contribution is Wis. Stat. 704.10: a rental agreement may authorize ELECTRONIC delivery of the 704.05(2) advance notice, along with leases and deposit accountings. Pre-2018 sources saying entry notice cannot be emailed are stale.
Trap: the '24 hours' shown for Wisconsin is an import — ATCP 134.09(2) sets 12 hours; the 24-hour figure sometimes displayed for Wisconsin comes from another state.
The remedy is double damages plus attorney fees — Because ATCP 134 is an order issued under Wis. Stat. 100.20, an unlawful entry supports the 100.20(5) action for double the tenant's pecuniary loss plus an attorney fee.

Common questions: Wisconsin entry notice

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How many hours' notice must a landlord give before entering in Wisconsin?: 12 hours. The notice need not be in writing and need not name an exact entry time, and the tenant may consent to shorter notice for a particular entry. The 12-hour floor comes from the administrative code, not from the statute.
What reasons allow a landlord to enter a rental in Wisconsin?: A landlord may enter only to inspect the premises, make repairs, or show the premises to prospective tenants or purchasers.
Can a landlord enter without notice in an emergency in Wisconsin?: Yes — Wisconsin recognizes an emergency exception to the entry-notice requirement.
Are there time-of-day limits on when a landlord can enter in Wisconsin?: Entry must be at 'reasonable times' (704.05(2), ATCP 134.09(2)). Neither layer fixes clock hours.

Statute citations

Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.09 (2) (verified 2026) Official source
Wis. Stat. 704.05 (2) (verified 2026) Official source
Wis. Stat. 704.10 (verified 2026) Official source
Wis. Stat. 100.20 (5) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute and administrative code text on the official Wisconsin Legislature site (docs.legis.wisconsin.gov, which officially hosts both Wis. Stats. and Wis. Admin. Code): Wis. Stat. 704.28, 704.05(2), 704.19, and Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.06 and ATCP 134.09 each read TWICE via alternate stable deep links — all key figures (21-day deposit return and its three trigger events, 12-hour entry notice, 28-day periodic-tenancy termination notice, 7-day check-in window, the three late-fee paragraphs of ATCP 134.09(8)) matched verbatim across both reads. Also read in full once: Wis. Stat. 100.20(5), 704.95, 704.44, 704.45, 704.08, 704.10, 704.17(1g), 66.1015, 66.0104, and ATCP 134.01/134.02(11) (scope and 'security deposit' definition). Pending-bill statuses checked on docs.legis.wisconsin.gov 2026-07-09: the 2025-26 Legislature adjourned sine die and all landlord-tenant bills (AB 1064 application fees, AB 1048 repeal of 66.0104) failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1 on 2026-03-23; AB 202 (Wisconsin Consumer Act exemption / void-lease remedy rewrite) passed both houses but was VETOED, so no 2025-26 enactment changes any field.