A new ordinance requires Seattle landlords to provide voter registration to new tenants. Seattle landlords are already required to provide an informational packet on landlord-tenant law to each new prospective renter (not only those who sign a rental agreement), at each renewal of a tenancy, and annually to all month-to-month tenants. The landlord-tenant law pamphlet can be given electronically only to existing tenants. Voter registration will be added to the landlord-tenant law packet, which is currently fifteen pages. Washington state law also requires a mold disclosure pamphlet. The voter registration requirement is the latest in a series of new burdens […]
Landlord-Tenant Blog
153 posts
If a landlord treats individuals with comparable criminal histories differently because of their race, national origin, or other protected characteristic this is intentional discrimination and the landlord is in violation of the Fair Housing Act (i.e., discriminatory intent liability). Until recently, a landlord could safely avoid liability if the landlord consistently applied the same standard regardless of race when screening for criminal history. It is no longer that simple. Landlords are not required to accept all applicants regardless of criminal history. But, under HUD guidelines published in 2016 landlords may face liability when using broad, blanket prohibitions on renting to […]
Chong and MariLyn Yim live with their three children in a triplex in Seattle. The only way they can afford to live in Seattle is to rent out the other two units. The Yim family shares yard space with the renters. The children are occasionally home alone in the triplex. The Yims cannot financially afford the losses caused by a bad tenancy. The Yims are concerned about compatibility and safety, as they and the children live in close proximity with their renters. The Yims have never discriminated against anyone. Kelly Lyles is a single woman living in Seattle. She is […]
Several parties entered what the Court of Appeals described as a “convoluted series of real estate transactions.”[1] Essentially, the Bohms lived in a property owned by Roesch, and real estate developer Fred was to make the mortgage payments and eventually acquire the Roesch property along with other contiguous properties. Fred failed to make the payments. The Roeschs sought to evict the Bohms in an unlawful detainer action. The matter was set for trial. The Bohms counterclaimed, seeking to quiet title. These counterclaims were not allowed because title to land cannot be litigated in an unlawful detainer action. Nevertheless, […]
A husband and wife owned a home that was foreclosed. The wife moved out months prior to the foreclosure auction. The purchasers at the foreclosure auction served legal notices on the husband, but did not name the wife in the notices. The foreclosure purchasers served two notices—a “twenty-day” notice to vacate, and also a statutory notice all foreclosure purchasers are required to serve on occupants after a foreclosure auction. The husband did not vacate the home. The foreclosure purchasers brought an eviction (unlawful detainer action) against the husband. The husband argued that the notices served prior to the eviction lawsuit […]
For a Seattle residential landlord, selling your house can be tricky. Under the just cause eviction ordinance the landlord must give 90 days notice (not a 20-day notice). The date to terminate the tenancy (the date the tenant is to vacate) must be the last day of a rental period—usually but not necessarily the last day of a calendar month. The notice must be served at least 90 days in advance. It is not correct to simply add 90 days to the current date. Under a recent Court of Appeals decision, the landlord may not enter into a purchase and […]
Some tenants facing eviction refuse to answer the door and accept service of the eviction lawsuit. Pre-litigation notices like the 3-day notice to pay rent or vacate can be posted and mailed if the landlord or person serving the document knocks and no one answers. This is not true for the eviction lawsuit summons and complaint. If the tenant continues to refuse to answer the door, the landlord upon a showing of diligent efforts at person service can seek a court order to post and mail. However, when the landlord utilizes this type of court approved post-and-mail service of the […]
The successful bidder at foreclosure is generally entitled to possession twenty days following the foreclosure sale. If the occupants do not vacate, the party who purchased at the foreclosure auction must bring an eviction action against the occupants. Sometimes the former property owner will attempt to avoid eviction by claiming the foreclosure process was procedurally defective. A Washington homeowner can defend against foreclosure by showing that the beneficiary of the deed of trust is not the holder of the note.[1] An post-foreclosure eviction case in which the former owner made this argument recently went to the Washington Court of Appeals.[2] […]
A new Seattle landlord-tenant law limits landlords’ discretion in rental decisions for residential rental properties. Under the new law, Seattle residential landlords must accept essentially all forms of alternative income and accept the first applicant who qualifies. The measure was supported by Seattle Mayor Murray, who pointed in supporting the measure that alternative income includes even stop-gap, emergency “short-term rental assistance…used to prevent eviction.” Alternative income sources include any “lawful, verifiable income” whether short or long term. The landlord must provide to each rental applicant notice of the landlord’s screening criteria. The notice must include: • the criteria the landlord will […]
Seattle residential landlords must give 60 days notice to increase rent ten percent or more in any twelve-month period. For rent increases of less than ten percent the landlord may give only 30 days notice. A new Seattle ordinance limits the ability of Seattle residential landlords to increase any periodic housing costs—including not only rent, but also other costs such storage or parking fees. The new rent and housing costs restrictions apply not only to increases of ten percent or more, but to any increase regardless of the amount. In all rent increase notices and other notices of housing costs […]