Re: Landlord Tenant disputes

Section 704.05(5) of the Wisconsin Statutes governs this type of situation.

704.05(5)(a)

(a) Procedure. If a tenant removes from the premises and leaves personal property, the landlord may do all of the following:

[sec. 704.05(5)(a)1 deleted by me here]

704.05(5)(a)2.

Give the tenant notice, personally or by ordinary mail addressed to the tenant's last-known address, of the landlord's intent to dispose of the personal property by sale or other appropriate means if the property is not repossessed by the tenant. If the tenant fails to repossess the property within 30 days after the date of personal service or the date of the mailing of the notice, the landlord may dispose of the property by private or public sale or any other appropriate means. The landlord may deduct from the proceeds of sale any costs of sale and any storage charges if the landlord has first stored the personalty under subd. 1. If the proceeds minus the costs of sale and minus any storage charges are not claimed within 60 days after the date of the sale of the personalty, the landlord is not accountable to the tenant for any of the proceeds of the sale or the value of the property. The landlord shall send the proceeds of the sale minus the costs of the sale and minus any storage charges to the department of administration for deposit in the appropriation under s. 20.143 (2) (h).

So, it looks like you should have at least tried to notify him in writing. I would say that your best bet is to rely on an abandonment defense - the guy left it there for months, didn't contact you about wanting it back for that long, etc., so legally the court can find that he abandoned the property and that it became yours to do with after all that time what you wanted.