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Member Questions Highlight the Complexity of New Laws at 2022 Legal Forum
Denise Myers | Director of Education + Resources | dmyers@RHAwa.org | (206) 905-0614
For many years running, RHAWA’s most popular event is the Legal Forum where a panel of attorneys gather to tackle members’ toughest housing provider dilemmas under Washington State, City of Seattle and other landlord-tenant, fair housing, real estate, and other laws. Now in our third year as a virtual event, we had more than twice the attendees over any event we’ve hosted at a live in-person venue. Our host, Cory Brewer, VP of Residential Operations at Windermere Property Management NW/Lori Gill & Associates, kept the discussion lively as he moderated 42 pre-submitted questions (several were combined from the original 67 submitted). Cory moderated another 21 questions that were submitted during the live presentation, and dozens more were answered behind the scenes by our Support Center staff. Our distinguished panel of attorneys Christopher Cutting, Julie Martiniello, and Eric M. Steven, rose to the challenge and kept everyone engaged for the full two-and-half hours. The most common type of question by far over the years is related to Assistance Animals and other accommodation requests. Not surprisingly based
on having to operate under many new and confusing laws, we had four additional supersized categories of questions: Rent Increase Notices, Lease Renewals, Good Causes to End Tenancy, and Nonpayment & Eviction. Following are a few highlights from each Denise Myers major discussion topic.
Rent Increase Notice
The attorneys began by reviewing the state law requiring 60-day notice in addition to tenant’s rights disclosures, plus longer notice periods up to 180 days and additional disclosures required in several cities. They went on to discuss the following: What are the New Rent Increase Requirements in Seattle? 180 day notice, tenant rights disclosure, plus the new Economic Displacement Relocation Assistance (EDRA) that went into effect July 1. What Kind of Increases Count as Rent? Basically, any increase in recurring monthly expense paid to the landlord. Exception would be an optional service where it is the tenant’s choice to incur the additional expense. Can I Give a Series of Rent Increases in One Notice? The attorneys agreed it was OK to give one notice for multiple increases happening over time in the future, as long as all notice period requirements are met.
Lease Renewals
Lease renewals have become quite complex under new state law, and new best practices under these laws are still unfolding. Several questions were addressed resulting in the following guidelines:
What Lease Terms are Needed to be Exempt from Good Cause to End Tenancy? It is important to understand that only certain term lease tenancies are exempt from the “good cause to end tenancy” law. See Support Center article, “Term Lease Renewal or Nonrenewal” for details.
Can I Still End a Fixed Term Lease in Seattle Without Cause? Several cities including Auburn, Burien, Federal Way and Seattle do not permit ending an “exempt” term lease without having a good cause.
What Can I Do if I Miss the Window to Serve Notice of Renewal? Once a tenant is in a month-to-month agreement, or if you miss the window to properly serve lease renewal, youcannot force them to sign a fixed term lease.
Do I Have to Waste Paper Serving Notice for Every Lease Renewal? Housing Providers can avoid formally serving the lease renewal notice (which is burdensome, expensive and is alarming for the tenant), if they are able to sign a new lease term with the tenant well before the required notice periods of 90 days in Seattle and 60 days in the rest of Washington State.
Good Causes to End Tenancy
Prior to 2021 (and the COVID Moratorium), Washington housing providers outside of Seattle could end a monthto-month tenancy without having to give a reason with 20-days’ notice. This is the most complicated area of change. There were several questions about this.
How Much Notice Do I Have to Give to End a Month-to-Month Tenancy? Various notice periods could be required based on location of the property and the reason for the termination, including 20, 30, 60, 90 and 120 days. A detailed chart and guidelines can be found in the Support Center, under “Good Cause to End Tenancy (Statewide Guide).
Can I End a Fixed Term Lease MidTerm with a Good Cause? In most cases you must wait until the end of the term, unless the cause is noncompliance with the agreement, such as nonpayment or breaking rules of tenancy.
Nonpayment & Eviction
Members had questions about nonpayment evictions and many just needed to vent. Following are few highlights.
is over, the process for nonpayment evictions completely changed and can take significantly longer with the added requirement to complete mediation with County Dispute Resolution Centers (DRC) and receive a “DRC Certificate” prior to filing an unlawful detainer action.
Is The Non-Payment Eviction Process a Never-Ending Loop of Re-Payment Plans? How Can We Move Forward with an Eviction? Unanimously and simply answered, “You can’t.” Where Do We Still Need to Offer a Payment Plan for Missed Rent? Throughout Washington until six months after the end of the governor’s “public health emergency” which is still ongoing.
Must We Accept Financial Assistance Payments that Require Continued Tenancy 6 Months After the Funds are Used? No, you are not required to accept payments with strings attached.
Service Animals & Pets
Surprisingly, there are still a lot of questions on this! Yes, in almost all cases you must accept emotional support animals if the tenant can produce documentation from their care provider that they have a disability and related need for the animal. • You cannot apply pet deposits or other related charges. • You cannot apply a pet policy. • You can hold your tenant liable if damage or cleanup is needed and respond appropriately if an animal injures someone. • You cannot deny because the animal is a “dangerous breed.” • You cannot outright deny because another tenant has an allergy (or some other situation where the accommodation may not be reasonable), but you will need to engage in back and forth process to find a reasonable solution.
If you missed registering for the live presentation of the Legal Forum, RHAWA members can subscribe to our ONDEMAND Library to view the recording. Login at RHAwa.org and go to Education/Class Passes to subscribe.
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