Wisconsin franchise termination law: the Fair Dealership Law

What Wisconsin's Fair Dealership Law says about good cause, 90 days' written notice, a 60-day cure, who bears the burden, and remedies.

Read from a mirror of the statute (Justia's reproduction of the 2025 Wisconsin Statutes; the official Wisconsin legislature site could not be reached). Check the official text before relying on any detail here.

Wisconsin puts the burden on the franchisor. Chapter 135, the Wisconsin Fair Dealership Law, says no grantor may terminate, cancel, fail to renew or substantially change the competitive circumstances of a dealership agreement without good cause, and the burden of proving good cause is on the grantor (Wis. Stat. 135.03). The law speaks of dealers and dealerships, not franchisees, so a reader's franchise is covered only if it fits those definitions.

Notice and cure

Section 135.04 requires a grantor to give a dealer at least 90 days' prior written notice of termination, cancellation, nonrenewal or substantial change in competitive circumstances. The notice must state all the reasons and must provide that the dealer has 60 days to rectify any claimed deficiency. If the deficiency is rectified within 60 days, the notice is void. The same rule covers non-renewal.

The notice requirement does not apply where the reason is insolvency, an assignment for the benefit of creditors or bankruptcy. Where the reason is nonpayment of sums due under the dealership, the dealer is entitled to written notice of the default and has 10 days to remedy it. Whatever the notice says, the notice and the agreement control a reader's own dates, and a Wisconsin lawyer can advise.

Good cause, as the statute defines it

Failure by the dealer to comply substantially with essential and reasonable requirements imposed by the grantor, or sought to be imposed, that are not discriminatory compared with requirements imposed on other similarly situated dealers, either in their terms or in how they are enforced (135.02(4)(a)).
Bad faith by the dealer in carrying out the terms of the dealership (135.02(4)(b)).

Does the law cover a given franchise?

A dealer is a grantee of a dealership situated in Wisconsin. A dealership is a contract granting the right to sell goods or services or to use a trade name or mark, where there is a community of interest, meaning a continuing financial interest between grantor and grantee in the operation of the dealership business or the marketing of the goods or services (135.02). Whether a particular franchise has a community of interest is a fact question the reader or a Wisconsin lawyer must examine. This page gives no verdict.

Remedies, and a gap

A dealer may sue in any court of competent jurisdiction for damages caused by the grantor's violation, together with the actual costs of the action including reasonable actual attorney fees. The dealer may also be granted injunctive relief against unlawful termination, cancellation, nonrenewal or substantial change of competitive circumstances (135.06).

This page has not confirmed a limitation period. The statute text on the mirror states none; only case annotations discuss when a limitation clock starts, and those were not read in full. A reader should ask a Wisconsin lawyer about timing early. For how courts treat urgent relief, see preliminary injunctions and TROs.

Contract terms and arbitration

The effect of the chapter may not be varied by contract or agreement, and a contract term purporting to do so is void and unenforceable to that extent only (135.025). A case annotation on the mirror says a choice-of-law clause was held unenforceable in Bush v. National School Studios; check the case itself before relying on it.

Section 135.05 says the chapter does not displace binding arbitration provisions in a dealership agreement about the items covered in 135.03, if the criteria for determining whether good cause existed and the relief provided are no less than the chapter provides. See arbitration clauses explained.

Questions to look for in your own notice and agreement

Does the notice give all the reasons and say the dealer has 60 days to fix them?
Is the written notice dated at least 90 days before the termination date?
Is the reason nonpayment, insolvency or bankruptcy, which follow different rules?
Is the requirement described in the notice one imposed on other similar dealers too?
Does the agreement send disputes to arbitration, and does it offer the same good-cause test and relief?