Responding to Late or Unpaid Rent Election Season is Finally Upon Us.

Denise Myers | Director of Education + Resources |  dmyers@RHAwa.org |  (206) 905-0614

Per RCW 59.18.660, when a tenant is late in paying rent or accrues rent debt, housing providers must now follow a specific process working with the newly formed Eviction Resolution Pilot Program (ERPP) and any Rental Assistance distribution available in each county. The required ERPP Notice Form provided by the Attorney General's Office includes resource information for all counties. RHAWA has optimized the form with fillable fields and made it available on our forms page at rhawa.org/rental-forms-leases-notices, also linked under step 2 below. If you have tenants currently in rental arrears who are not in Burien, you can proceed with serving notice to resolve debt or end the tenancy following specific new requirements, outlined as follows:

It is a best practice to communicate with the tenant to confirm there is a problem with paying rent before proceeding with service of notices. For rent due January 1, 2022 or later, the landlord may choose to charge late fees when rent is more than 5 days late. Kenmore extended ban on late fees to 1/15/2022. Seattle and Burien late fee ban is ongoing.

In Spokane and possibly other counties, it is required to send the Invoice and Payment Schedule for Past Due Rent first and wait 14 days before proceeding to the next step.

If and when it is clear that the tenant is not likely to pay rent, properly serve the following notices on the tenant(s) as one packet, carefully following the instructions provided in the RHAWA 14-Day Pay Rent or Vacate Notice form.

Include the following in the notice packet served: • 14-Day Pay Rent or Vacate Notice • Do not serve pay or vacate notice in Burien where the moratorium is ongoing. See RHAwa.org/covid-19 for current information. • ERPP Notice and Resource Information. • This notice includes information on accessing government rent assistance. • Invoice and Payment Schedule for

Past Due Rent. • Note: It is prohibited to proceed with an unlawful detainer action or attempt to collect (including use of security deposit) on rental arrears accrued from 2/29/2020 to six months after the end of the currently ongoing "public health emergency" without first offering reasonable payment plan to the tenant (RCW 59.18.630). • If tenant accepts payment plan offer and pays according to the agreed plan, do not proceed with the following steps. • Do not include late fees or other incidental charges in payment plan offer. Only unpaid rent and other recurring housing costs.

Using email or other designated online system, submit copies of the above served notices and any additional required information to the ERPP administrated by the Dispute Resolution Center (DRC) in the county where the rental property is located. Find contact information on the ERPP Notice and Resource Information.

Participate in the mediation or conciliation process facilitated by the Dispute Resolution Center (DRC) managing the Eviction Resolution Pilot Program (ERPP) for the county where your property is located. Note: An ERPP specialist should initiate contact with both the landlord and tenant. If you do not hear from them, you may need to contact the county DRC. The goal of mediation or conciliation is to keep the tenant in the home by reaching a settlement agreement that could include a payment plan schedule, terms for payment of current rent going forward, access to rental assistance, and changes to terms of tenancy.

If a settlement agreement is reached, and both parties continue to meet the terms of the agreement, no further action is taken.

If the housing provider participates in the ERPP process and a settlement agreement is not reached with the tenant, or the tenant fails to meet the terms of the agreement, the mediator will issue a DRC Certification which is required to proceed with an eviction. Work with your attorney or eviction service to move forward from here. For information on additional eviction restrictions in Seattle, see article Eviction Restrictions in Seattle found in the Support Center at RHAwa.org/support-center.

©2022 Rental Housing Association of Washington | www.RHAwa.org. This article was written and edited by RHAWA representatives and is intended for the use of RHAWA members only. Copyrighted members-only materials may not be further disseminated. Formal legal advice and review is recommended prior to selection and use of this information. RHAWA does not represent your selection or execution of this information as appropriate for your specific circumstance. The material contained and represented herein, although obtained from reliable sources, is not considered legal advice or to be used as a substitution for legal counsel.