A bill the Washington legislature is considering would require all residential landlords to offer a payment plan before engaging in any collection efforts for rent that was due during the pandemic state of emergency.[1] “Collection efforts” would be statutorily defined to include eviction or any court action, use of collection agencies, any threats to collect, and even withholding from a security deposit. The payment plan would have to be reasonable solely from the tenant’s—but with no consideration of the landlord’s— “financial, health, or other circumstances.” A landlord’s failure to offer a payment plan would be defense to eviction. For two […]
SB 5160
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