Washington Landlord Tenant Law

Posts Tagged ‘tenant’s property’

Our law firm was not involved in the lawsuit described in this article.

In a recent opinion Division II of the Court of Appeals upheld a $76,275.55 verdict against a landlord and the property management firm it retained.[1] In addition, the Court of Appeals added attorney’s fees in an amount to be determined for the appeal.     Read the rest of this entry »

Abandonment must be clear and unequivocal.[1] The tenant need not expressly state an intention to abandon.  Such an intention may be implied by law.[2] “This inference may be drawn from anything which amounts to an agreement on the part of the tenant to abandon.”[3]

The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act abolishes the common law right to distress for rent.[4] Any landlord who takes or detains the property of the tenant without express written consent and refuses to return the property upon demand to do so may be liable for actual damages and attorney’s fees.[5] If the refusal is intentional the landlord may in addition be liable for $100 per day up to $1,000.[6] The landlord may be liable even if not holding the property for rent.[7] Read the rest of this entry »

[IMPORTANT UPDATE: The law has changed since this article was published. See article on new law regarding storing tenant property.]

Abandonment is an absolute relinquishment of a known right.  The landlord must be prepared to prove abandonment with clear and convincing evidence.

In the event of such abandonment the landlord may immediately enter and take possession of any property of the tenant found on the premises and store it in any reasonably secure place. Read the rest of this entry »