WILLIAM FARINA, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. MERIDIAN GROUP, INC., DEFENDANT-RESPONDENT., 218 Wis. 2d 166

Summary

The tenant filed a small claims action against the landlord demanding payment as an abatement of rent because of noisy neighbors and for a theft loss. At trial, the tenant testified that despite the unresolved complaints he renewed his lease. The trial court granted the landlord's motion to dismiss, and the tenant appealed. The court affirmed. While noise problems could be a disturbance that interfered with the tenant's occupancy, he was not entitled to an abatement of rent as a remedy because he remained in possession and even renewed his lease. Further, the rent abatement remedy was only available for physical inadequacies which rendered the premises unusable such that the tenant was actually or constructively evicted from the premises. The tenant did not show these circumstances here.