By: Derek Hawkins//October 28, 2019//
WI Court of Appeals – District III
Case Name: M. Blank Properties, LLC, v. George Cole
Case No.: 2018AP699
Officials: Stark, P.J., Hruz and Seidl, JJ.
Focus: Court Error – Retaliatory Eviction
George Cole appeals a judgment awarding money damages to his former landlord, M. Blank Properties, LLC (Blank). Cole contends the circuit court erred by: (1) denying his counterclaim that Blank unlawfully withheld his security deposit after Cole vacated his apartment; (2) finding that Cole’s neglect caused water damage to a bathroom in the apartment; and (3) denying his retaliatory eviction counterclaim. We reject Cole’s arguments and affirm the judgment. Further, because we conclude that Cole’s entire appeal is frivolous, we grant Blank’s motion for costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred in this appeal under WIS. STAT. RULE 809.25(3) (2017-18), and we remand to the circuit court to determine the proper amount thereof. See Lessor v. Wangelin, 221 Wis. 2d 659, 669, 586 N.W.2d 1 (Ct. App. 1998).