Commercial Landlord-Tenant Law

7 posts

Dueling Landlord and Tenants

Court of Appeals rules on commercial lease dispute. Commercial tenant Outloud Entertainment Group, Inc. rented two spaces from its commercial landlord Group 44, Inc.—one rental space in Seattle and the other in Tacoma.   Tenant Outloud operated dueling piano bars in the spaces. The commercial lease required tenant Outloud to pay base rent plus monthly assessments for taxes, insurance, and maintenance. Ebony Keys, LLC entered into an agreement to buy the piano bar in Tacoma from Outloud.  As part of the business purchase, Outloud provided a copy of its lease with landlord Group 44—but did not include the addendum referencing the […]

Commercial Lease Co-Signer Not Liable

A landlord and tenant entered into a commercial lease. The landlord required an additional signer as security. The lease expired. The tenants were current on the rent at the time the lease expired. The tenants stayed in possession and began a month-to-month tenancy. The tenants soon fell behind on rent, a moved out after several months, owing $8,709.12 in unpaid rent. The landlord assigned its right to the delinquent rent to a collections agent, who in turn sued the co-signer. In a bench trial, the trial court ruled in favor of the co-signer. The collections agent appealed. The Washington State […]

New Law Clarifies Process for Tenants who Avoid Service

To start an eviction lawsuit in Washington (a.k.a. an unlawful detainer action) the landlord must first serve applicable notices such as a notice to pay rent or vacate, comply or vacate, or a notice to terminate a month to month tenancy. Next, the landlord must serve a summons and a complaint. The same type of documents are the starting point in any lawsuit—although the exact content of course varies in evictions from other types of lawsuits. The same strict rules about how to serve the summons and complaint applies in evictions as in other lawsuits, essentially requiring that a disinterested […]

Fighting City Hall

Old City Hall LLC bought a commercial building in Tacoma with the intent to convert it into luxury condos. Old City Hall needed tenants in the building to vacate to speed up the process. Old City Hall offered to “buy out” existing commercial leases – offering the commercial tenants financial incentives to agree to terminate leases early and vacate. Most of the tenants accepted, but two tenants declined. Soon the building began to deteriorate. Janitorial services the landlord was contractually obligated to provide declined. Trash began to pile up. Human feces from unauthorized occupants littered the building.

Commercial Eviction Upheld on Appeal

A landlord leased commercial space to a tenant to operate a nightclub. The commercial tenant fell behind in rent. The landlord served a notice to pay rent or vacate, giving the statutory three-day period. The lease provided for twenty days to cure non-payment of rent. The tenant argued on appeal that the notice was defective. Although the notice only gave three days to cure non-payment of rent, the landlord waited more than twenty days before filing the summons and complaint. The Court of Appeals ruled that waiting the additional period before taking further action was sufficient, even though the notice […]

Landlord and Tenant Both Want Attorney Fees

A commercial landlord brought an eviction against its tenant. The landlord also filed a separate lawsuit for rent and other money allegedly owed. The eviction was set for trial. The landlord and tenant agreed that the tenant would vacate prior to the trial date, and the tenant in fact vacated the commercial rental property. The tenant then moved for attorney fees, arguing that the landlord did not prevail in the eviction. The trial court denied the motion for fees, noting that neither party “won” the eviction case and the separate lawsuit for rent and other alleged damages was still pending. […]

Implied Warranties in Commercial Leases

Courts in some jurisdictions have extended the implied warranty of habitability to commercial leases to find an implied warranty of fitness for intended purpose.[1] Some commentators find the implied warranty of fitness analogous to the implied warranty of merchantability in the Uniform Commercial Code.[2] No Washington decision to date has found an implied warranty in commercial leases, but dicta in one opinion leaves the door open.[3]