$200

Mailing an Eviction Notice

Typically, an eviction case begins with a termination notice, which has to be served on the tenants in accordance with strict statutory rules.

Many of our clients do this step themselves, and you can find a limited number of free forms on our website that you may use yourself.

If you’d like us to do it, it costs $200.

$500

Initial Flat Fee for fling case & Eviction Return Dates

To start an eviction with us, we ask you to pay our $500 Initial Flat Fee up front. This fee covers our time discussing the case with you, preparing and filing the necessary documents, and appearing at one or more initial eviction “return date” court appearances.

At the initial appearances, most cases are either dismissed because you’ve made an agreement with the tenant, or granted because the tenant either doesn’t show up, or shows up without a legal defense.

In those cases, this initial fee will get you through to the point that the court grants the eviction, if it is still necessary.

Sometimes, tenants show up and allege that they have a legal defense. For example, they could say that they withheld rent due to maintenance issues, or that they tried to pay their rent within the 5 days but you refused to accept it. In these cases, the case will be set for an eviction hearing with the judge, the flat fee will be considered earned and the case will immediately begin to bill hourly at $285 an hour until the trial is resolved.

$150-$400

Court Costs

Unfortunately, I am required to pass all of my out of pocket expenses for your case, such as filing fees and process servers, on to you.

To streamline the process and avoid additional paperwork, we no longer collect these fees in advance. Once the fees are incurred, we will charge these fees on to you to and seek reimbursement.

In most eviction cases, we are talking about a filing fee, usually $118, though it varies by county, and process servers, which usually cost $30-$60 per defendant but can be higher in some instances. When you pursue a money judgment, there are sometimes newspaper publication costs, which can in our experience run up to $110.

$285/hr

Contested Proceedings

When a case gets set for a contested hearing or trial with the judge or court commissioner, hourly fees start to apply. At this stage in the game, significant work has to be done to prepare the evidence for court and prepare the witnesses to testify.

For eviction cases, if the case gets set for trial, then the hourly fees apply until the trial is over. For the monetary part of the case, the flat fees would apply again unless and until that part of the case gets set for contested proceedings too.

$100

Milwaukee Writ Delivery

In some cases, you need to have the sheriffs physically remove the tenants. To do that, paperwork has to be obtained from the clerk of courts and delivered to the sheriffs eviction window. We are able to do that for our clients in Milwaukee for $100. If you have the time, you are also free to do this step yourself.

$205+

Sheriffs Fees

When the sheriffs get involved, they demand to be paid by the hour. In Milwaukee, the sheriffs usually cost $205 ($200 plus the court’s $5 fee to sign the order.) If you hire optional movers to remove the tenant’s property, these costs can go up too.

$200

Money Judgment Flat Fee

This optional flat fee is the final flat fee we would charge you if you want to get a money judgment against your tenant after they have been evicted.

Our fee includes preparing the necessary paperwork to get a judgment, appearing at the return date, and negotiating a settlement with the tenant at the return date if they appear. If the matter is set for trial, the case would convert to hourly.