Settled law breeds few appeals for the simple reason that if the law is settled there are fewer issues to appeal. When new laws are passed, they can be interpreted in different ways, leading to more appealable issues. Landlord-tenant law was once well settled but is now with a plethora of new laws it is the opposite extreme. In the past, there were only a handful of landlord-tenant appellate cases each year. Now there are sometimes a handful of appellate developments in a single day. This week there were two important appellate decisions and oral arguments on another case with […]
eviction notice
13 posts
Landlord-tenant law of only a few years ago is almost unrecognizable today. Below is a bullet-point list of some of the more important developments. An article cannot list all the changes or analyze them in depth. Consult with an attorney about your circumstances. CARES Act The federal CARES Act applies to any property with a federally-backed loan (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc.) and any unit with a Section 8 tenant. The CARES Act may apply if any tenant in any unit is a Section 8 voucher tenant, if the owner received a mortgage forbearance, and other circumstances. Courts may require […]
A recent Court of Appeals decision requires a 30-day notice to pay rent or vacate for any residential property with a federally-backed loan (FHA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc.). The court was interpreting provisions of the federal CARES Act. Although state law requires only 14 days’ notice to pay rent or vacate, the court held that federal law preempts state law and requires 30 days’ notice if there is a federally-backed loan. The same statute applies to tenancies where the tenant receives Section 8 benefits. If the tenant being evicted is a Section 8 beneficiary, then a 30-day notice to […]
The CARES Act covers more than one in four rentals.[1] Contrary to a widely held misconception, provisions of the CARES Act applicable to rentals continue to apply and are not set to ever expire.[2] The CARES Act requires landlords to serve a 30-day notice before a tenant may be required to vacate. The language in the CARES Act does not require the landlord to provide an opportunity to cure. State law requires landlords to serve a 14-day notice to pay rent or vacate. The precise language is mandated by state law and provides that the tenant must either pay the […]
Under the Washington residential eviction moratorium hotel/motel guests who stay at least fourteen days may not be evicted (with some general exceptions applicable to all tenants). The Washington eviction moratorium ends June 30. Under a new law now in effect, a hotel or motel may serve a guest who has stayed for thirty days or more with a seven-day eviction notice. After the seven-day period the guest is not a tenant for the purposes of the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act. The law is silent as to whether the tenant must be removed under the unlawful detainer statute (essentially a non-residential eviction). […]
There are many proposals in the works to change landlord-tenant law in Washington. One bill recently proposed would change the calculation on the three-day cure period for a notice to pay rent or vacate. Under current law, the cure period for a notice to pay rent or vacate is three calendar days. Weekends and holidays count under current law. The new law, if enacted, would change the three day period to exclude weekends and legal holidays. There are numerous other proposals being debated in Olympia this year. Many new landlord-tenant laws have been enacted at the local level in the past […]
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 […]
A Seattle residential eviction with a complicated procedural history was recently upheld on appeal.[1] The lease expired and the tenancy continued month-to-month. After a parking dispute between the tenants and a neighbor, the landlord served a notice terminating the tenancy indicating that a member of the landlord’s immediate family intended to reside in the rental property. The tenants did not vacate, forcing the landlord to bring an eviction action. In Seattle residential tenancies just cause is legally required to evict a tenant, even if the tenant is month-to-month. The landlord is required to state the just cause eviction grounds in […]
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 […]
Our law firm was not involved in the lawsuit described in this article. Under Washington unlawful detainer law the landlord should not demand non-rent items on the three-day notice to pay rent or vacate. This is because the tenants is entitled to at least 10 days to cure any non-rent breach of the lease.