This year bills have been introduced in both the Washington State House and Senate that would allow local governments in Washington to impose rent control on residential tenancies. Under current law local governments in Washington are prohibited from imposing rent control. The deadline for bills to pass out of committee and be presented to the house of origin was February 2. As this was not done with either the House or Senate versions of the rent control proposal, rent control appears dead for this legislative session. Doubtless battle lines have been drawn and rent control will be an issue in […]
Landlord-Tenant Blog
153 posts
The summons and complaint must be served by a non-party (someone other than the landlord) and served into the hands of a tenant or other resident of the rental unit. This is in contrast to the initial eviction notices. A 3-day notice to pay rent or vacate, 10-day notice to comply or vacate, or 20-day notice to terminate a month-to-month tenancy may be served by the landlord. These notices may be served by the landlord themselves, and on anyone, whether they reside in the rental or not, as long as copies are also mailed to the rental property. If no […]
Seattle has had a just cause eviction ordinance for years. A recent proposal would impose a state-wide just cause eviction law for all residential tenancies in Washington.[1] The new law would make it impossible for Washington landlords to evict residential tenants—including month-to-month tenants—except for one of a few enumerated causes. The proposed just cause eviction law would extend the cure periods for non-payment of rent and other breaches of the tenancy terms to fourteen days. Current law allows the landlord to serve a 3-day notice for non-payment of rent, and a 10-day notice for any other breach of the tenancy […]
Marijuana has been and remains illegal under federal law, even Washington and a growing number of states have passed laws making marijuana legal under state law. Marijuana businesses and their landlords are subject to criminal prosecution under federal law. Landlords of marijuana businesses may also lose their property in civil forfeiture actions. US Attorney General Jeff Session last week announced new guidelines for expanded prosecution of marijuana businesses, even in states where the businesses are legal under state law. This is an ominous threat to both marijuana businesses and their landlords. Washington marijuana businesses are regulated and must be licensed. […]
Under current Washington law for month-to-month tenancies either the landlord or tenant can end the tenancy with written notice given the last day of the rental period (usually but not always the last day of a calendar month) served at least 20 days in advance. In Seattle residential landlords must have just cause to evict, even if the tenant is month-to-month. Without just cause, the landlord has a perpetual tenant. A Seattle residential tenant meanwhile can still terminate the tenancy on 20 days notice. If a lease provision calls for more than 20 days, the parties must give the longer […]
The purchaser at a trustee’s sale foreclosure is required to serve on all occupants a notice to vacate. The former owners and other non-tenant occupants must vacate within twenty days of the foreclosure auction. The new owner must give tenants in the foreclosed property 60 days notice to vacate. No 20-day notice to terminate tenancy or other type of pre-eviction notice is required.[1] In a recent Court of Appeals case the foreclosure sale purchaser served a notice naming a former owner. The former owner’s wife had already moved out, so the new owner did not name her in the notice […]
Some leases have provisions that stipulate that if the tenant hold over a periodic month-to-month tenancy results. Such lease provisions may not be in the landlord’s interests. Automatic month-to-month lease provisions are not necessary. The rule in Washington is that if a tenant holds over after expiration of a lease term, pays rent, and the landlord accepts the rent, a month-to-month tenancy results as a matter of law.[1] No language in the lease is necessary. The month-to-month tenancy is created by the conduct of the parties. The bottom line—if the landlord wants to keep the tenant and the tenant wants […]
Some tenants avoid service of the initial eviction lawsuit pleadings. The initial pleadings are a summons and a complaint. The summons and complaint must be served by a disinterested non-party (not the landlord) and must be placed into the hands of a resident of the rental property. If the tenant avoids service—a common problem—once the process server makes several attempts at personal service the landlord can file a motion in court to allow service of the summons and complaint by posting and mailing. Service of the summons and complaint is only legally valid if there is a court order. (This […]
Seattle landlords are required to give all residential tenants a tenant information packet and voter registration information. The City has combined the tenant information packet and the voter registration packet into one packet. [1] If the landlord fails to provide the tenant information and voter registration packet, the tenant may give notice and terminate the tenancy. The tenant may also sue the landlord for actual damages, attorney fees, and monetary penalties of up to $1,000.[2] This rule applies to all residential tenancies in Seattle, including oral agreements and/or month-to-month agreements. If you have questions about landlord-tenant law you should consult with an […]
Update: This proposal was passed into law. A proposed Seattle ordinance would limit landlords’ use of criminal history, including sex offender registration.[1] Under the proposal, among other requirements and prohibitions: landlords could not use arrest records for any purpose, since an arrest is not proof of guilt; landlords could not use criminal convictions more than two years old without a “legitimate business reason”; landlords could not use an adult’s status as a registered sex offender without a “legitimate business reason”; landlords could not use a juvenile’s status as a registered sex offender for any reason.