421.201 Territorial application.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, chs. 421 to 427 apply to consumer transactions made in this state and to modifications including refinancings, consolidations and deferrals, made in this state, of consumer credit transactions wherever made.

(2) For the purposes of chs. 421 to 427, a consumer transaction or modification of a consumer transaction is made in this state if:

(a) A writing signed by the customer and evidencing the obligation or an offer of the customer is received by the merchant in this state; or

(b) The merchant induces the customer who is a resident of this state to enter into the transaction by face-to-face solicitation or by mail or telephone solicitation directed to the particular customer in this state.

(3) With respect to a transaction pursuant to an open-end credit plan, chs. 421 to 427 apply if the customer is a resident of this state and the open-end creditor or a merchant honoring a credit card issued by the open-end creditor, is a resident of this state or furnishes, mails or delivers the goods, services or credit to a resident of this state while the customer is within this state or receives a writing signed by the customer and evidencing the transaction in this state.

(4) Chapter 427 applies to any debt collection activity in this state, including debt collection by means of mail or telephone communications directed to customers in this state.

(5) Subchapters I and II of ch. 425, relating to creditors' remedies, including applicable penalties, apply to actions or other proceedings brought in this state to enforce rights arising from consumer transactions or extortionate extensions of credit, wherever made, but conduct, action or proceedings to recover collateral or goods subject to a motor vehicle consumer lease shall be governed by the law of the state where the collateral or goods subject to a motor vehicle consumer lease are located at the time of recovery unless the collateral or goods subject to a motor vehicle consumer lease are owned by a Wisconsin resident, who has removed the collateral or goods from this state only for purposes of transportation to or use in the resident's employment or for temporary periods which do not exceed 15 days.

(6) If a consumer transaction, or modification thereof, is made in another state with a customer who is a resident of this state when the transaction or modification is made, the following provisions apply as though the transaction occurred in this state:

(a) A creditor, or assignee of the creditor's rights, may collect through actions or other proceedings charges only to the extent permitted by ch. 422; and

(b) A merchant may not enforce rights against the customer to the extent that the provisions of the agreement violate subch. IV of ch. 422 or ch. 423.

(7) Except as provided in sub. (4) or (5), a consumer transaction or modification thereof, made in another state with a customer who was not a resident of this state when the consumer transaction or modification was made, is valid and enforceable in this state according to its terms to the extent that it is valid and enforceable under the laws of the state applicable to the transaction.

(8) For the purposes of chs. 421 to 427, the residence of a customer is the address given by the customer as his or her residence in any writing signed by the customer in connection with a consumer transaction. The given address is presumed to be unchanged until the merchant knows or has reason to know of a new or different address.

(9) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section:

(a) Except as provided in sub. (4) or (5), chs. 421 to 427 do not apply if the customer is not a resident of this state at the time of a consumer transaction and the parties then agree that the law of his or her residence applies; and

(b) Chapters 421 to 427 apply if the customer is a resident of this state at the time of a consumer transaction and the parties then agree that the law of this state applies.

(10) Except as provided in sub. (9), the following terms of a writing executed by a customer are invalid with respect to consumer transactions, or modifications thereof, to which chs. 421 to 427 apply:

(a) That the law of another state shall apply;

(b) That the customer consents to the jurisdiction of another state; and

(c) That fixes venue.

History: 1971 c. 239; 1975 c. 407, 421; 1979 c. 89; 1991 a. 316; 1995 a. 329.

Notwithstanding sub. (5), s. 425.206 governed repossession outside of the state when a contract provided for enforcement under the “internal law" of Wisconsin. First Wisconsin National Bank of Madison v. Nicolaou, 85 Wis. 2d 393, 270 N.W.2d 582 (Ct. App. 1978).

Sub. (10) (a) bars any provision mandating application of the law of another state with respect to a consumer transaction to which chs. 421 to 427 apply. All of chs. 421 to 427 need not be applicable for the choice-of-law prohibition to apply. As long as some portion of the WCA is applicable, no choice-of-law provisions are effective. Credit Acceptance Corporation v. Kong, 2012 WI App 98, 344 Wis. 2d 259, 822 N.W.2d 506, 11-0476.

A corporation that repossessed the vehicle outside of the state was not subject to the Wisconsin police power. Patrin v. Chrysler Credit Corp. 530 F. Supp. 736 (1982).

The Wisconsin Consumer Act: Territorial Considerations. Anzivino. 96 MLR 833 (2013).

The Wisconsin Consumer Act: Consumer Credit Sales, Consumer Leases, Open-End Credit Plans, and Exclusions. Anzivino. 97 MLR 55 (No. 1 2013).