Washington Landlord Tenant Law

Archive for the ‘Washington Landlord Tenant Law’ Category

In recent years the mandatory summons for residential evictions in Washington has been amended twice.  Many landlords and attorneys are still using older, out-of-date form. Read the rest of this entry »

In a recent unpublished opinion Division III of the Washington Court of Appeals held that despite the acceptance of rent the occupants of certain rental property were merely tenants at sufferance and subject to eviction via an unlawful detainer action.[1] Read the rest of this entry »

A lease expires upon end of term. This applies in a Seattle residential lease, the local just cause eviction ordinance notwithstanding. Carlstrom v. Hanline, 98 Wn. App. 780 (2000). Read the rest of this entry »

Generally, no.

But, both residential and non-residential leases must be notarized and contain a legal description if the term exceeds a year.[1] The recording statute defines a lease of over two years as a conveyance.[2]  Read the rest of this entry »

[UPDATE NOTE: This bill ultimately did not pass.]

A bill is being considered in Olympia that may limit landlord’s access to complete and accurate information and drive up the costs of obtaining tenant screening reports.

The proposed law imposes new credit reporting obligations on tenant screening services. The new law would require them to issue only one complete screening report per tenant per sixty days and to issue a correction if information changes. Read the rest of this entry »