Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 846.04 (2026)
Deficiency, judgment for
✓ current as of July 2026
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846.04(1)(1) The plaintiff may, in the complaint, demand judgment for any deficiency that may remain due the plaintiff after sale of the mortgaged premises against every party who is personally liable for the debt secured by the mortgage. Judgment may be rendered for any deficiency remaining after applying the proceeds of sale to the amount due. The judgment for deficiency shall be ordered in the original judgment and separately rendered against the party liable on or after the confirmation of sale. The judgment for deficiency shall be entered in the judgment and lien docket and, except as provided in subs. (2) and (3), enforced as in other cases. A mortgage foreclosure deficiency judgment entered on or after October 14, 1997, on property under agricultural use, as defined in s. 91.01 (2), for at least 12 consecutive months during the preceding 36-month period shall be recorded as an agriculture judgment.
846.04(2)(2) Except as provided in sub. (3), if a mortgage foreclosure deficiency judgment is entered on property under agricultural use, as defined in s. 91.01 (2), for at least 12 consecutive months during the preceding 36-month period, an action on the deficiency judgment shall be commenced within 10 years after the date on which the mortgage foreclosure deficiency judgment is entered or be barred.
846.04(3)(3) If a mortgage foreclosure deficiency judgment was entered before January 1, 1990, on property devoted primarily to agricultural use, as defined in s. 91.01 (5), an action on the deficiency judgment shall be commenced within 2 years after October 14, 1997, or be barred. If the deficiency judgment remains unsatisfied in a mortgage foreclosure deficiency judgment action entered before October 14, 1997, the defendant in that action shall notify the clerk of circuit court of the existence of that deficiency judgment and of the date that an action on that deficiency judgment shall be commenced or be barred. Not later than 60 days prior to 2 years after October 14, 1997, if notified of an unsatisfied deficiency judgment by the defendant in that action, the clerk of each circuit court in which a mortgage foreclosure deficiency judgment on property devoted primarily to agricultural use, as defined in s. 91.01 (5), was entered before January 1, 1990, and remains unsatisfied, shall, upon payment by the defendant in that action of the costs of the publication and certified mail, do all of the following:
846.04(3)(a)(a) Publish a notice as a class 1 notice under ch. 985, in the official newspaper of the county where the mortgage foreclosure deficiency judgment was entered, stating that the party holding the mortgage foreclosure deficiency judgment is required to commence an action on the deficiency judgment prior to 2 years after October 14, 1997, or be barred from any further action on that deficiency judgment.
846.04(3)(b)(b) Notify by certified mail the primary plaintiff in the action for the mortgage foreclosure deficiency judgment that the plaintiff is required to commence an action on the deficiency judgment prior to 2 years after October 14, 1997, or be barred from any further action on that deficiency judgment.
846.04 HistoryHistory: 1973 c. 189 s. 7; Stats. 1973 s. 816.04; Sup. Ct. Order, 67 Wis. 2d 585, 768 (1975); Stats. 1975 s. 846.04; 1993 a. 486; 1995 a. 224; 1997 a. 27; 2009 a. 28.
846.04 Annotation“Personally liable for the debt secured by the mortgage” has the same meaning in ss. 846.103 (2) and 846.04. “Personally liable” is a term of art used to distinguish the borrower’s liability, which is a personal obligation, from the mortgagor’s liability, which is an obligation limited to the property used to secure the note debt. Bank Mutual v. S.J. Boyer Construction, Inc. 2010 WI 74, 326 Wis. 2d 521, 785 N.W.2d 462, 08-0912.
846.04 AnnotationThere is no reasonable way to read sub. (1) and s. 846.101 to mean that a money judgment obtained on a second mortgage and note should count as a deficiency judgment for purposes of a foreclosure action on a separate indebtedness secured by a first mortgage. Harbor Credit Union v. Samp, 2011 WI App 40, 332 Wis. 2d 214, 796 N.W.2d 813, 10-0974.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 15
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1976–2021 · leading case: Bank Mut. v. S.J. Boyer Constr., Inc., 2010 WI 74 (Wis. 2010).
Bank Mut. v. S.J. Boyer Constr., Inc., 2010 WI 74 (Wis. 2010). “¶ 31 Three statutesWis. Stat. §§ 846.04, 846.101, and 846.103(2)use the exact same phrase: "every party who is personally liable for the debt secured by the mortgage.”
Harbor Credit Union v. Samp, 2011 WI App 40 (Wis. Ct. App. 2011). “3 At the outset of a foreclosure action a plaintiff-mortgagee must decide, and declare in its complaint, whether to preserve its ability to seek a money judgment (called a deficiency judgment) against the defendant-mortgagor for losses that the plaintiff-mortgagee may incur…”
Bank of Sun Prairie v. Marshall Dev. Co., 2001 WI App 64 (Wis. Ct. App. 2001). “That statute, now numbered Wis. Stat. § 846.04 (1), permits but does not require a plaintiff in a foreclosure action to "demand judgment for any deficiency that may remain due the plaintiff after sale of the mortgaged premises against every party who is personally liable for the…”
State v. Hamilton, 2003 WI 50 (Wis. 2003). “The statute's answer is seemingly clear: any action upon a judgment of a court of record must be commenced within 20 years after the judgment is entered. The statute is not limited to child support enforcement actions; it is much broader.”
Tensfeldt v. Haberman, 2009 WI 77 (Wis. 2009). “§ 846.04 applies to mortgage foreclosures and Wis.”
Anchor Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Coyle, 435 N.W.2d 727 (Wis. 1989). “Anchor argues that when a deficiency judgment is sought, sec. 846.04, Stats., requires that such a judgment be “separately rendered against the party liable on or after the coming in and confirmation of the report of sale.”
Hamilton v. Hamilton, 2002 WI App 89 (Wis. Ct. App. 2002). “The reference to Wis. Stat. § 846.04 was added in 1997, see 1997 Wis.”
Bank Mut. v. S.J. Boyer Constr., Inc., 2009 WI App 14 (Wis. Ct. App. 2008). “759 (1899), our supreme court applied a predecessor to Wis. Stat. § 846.04 , which provided "[a deficiency may be sought] against every party who may be personally *278 liable for the debt secured by the mortgage, whether the mortgagor or other persons, if upon the same contract…”
First Wisconsin Nat'l Bank of Oshkosh v. Kramer, 246 N.W.2d 536 (Wis. 1976). “, now sec. 846.04, Stats. 7 Plaintiff there was prevented from seeking a separate deficiency judgment at law, while the original action was pending in equity.”
Matter of Plunkett, 191 B.R. 768 (Bankr. E.D. Wis. 1995). “The judgment creditor may demand judgment for any resulting deficiency, which the court may order in the judgment of foreclosure but separately rendered after the sale is confirmed.”
Kathy Schwab v. Paul Schwab, 2021 WI 67 (Wis. 2021). “40 creates, the legislature has enacted two exceptions to the statute of repose.”
United States v. Davis, 961 F.2d 603 (7th Cir. 1992). “The lender may demand in his complaint of foreclosure that judgment be rendered “for any deficiency which may remain due to him after sale of the mortgaged premises_” Wis.Stat. § 846.04. If the lender proceeds under this section, the debtor is given twelve months to redeem the…”
— Wis. Stat. § 846.04(1) — 2 cases
Bank Mut. v. S.J. Boyer Constr., Inc., 2010 WI 74 (Wis. 2010). “¶ 31 Three statutesWis. Stat. §§ 846.04, 846.101, and 846.103(2)use the exact same phrase: "every party who is personally liable for the debt secured by the mortgage.”
Harbor Credit Union v. Samp, 2011 WI App 40 (Wis. Ct. App. 2011). “3 At the outset of a foreclosure action a plaintiff-mortgagee must decide, and declare in its complaint, whether to preserve its ability to seek a money judgment (called a deficiency judgment) against the defendant-mortgagor for losses that the plaintiff-mortgagee may incur…”
— Wis. Stat. § 846.04(2) — 1 case
Kathy Schwab v. Paul Schwab, 2020 WI App 40 (Wis. Ct. App. 2020).
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