Quote:
Originally Posted by Pittgal
Is there somewhere online I can see this Tenants Rights clause out here in WA?
|
Twenty second google search found this:
Edit: Beaten on the second link, but not the first! haha!
Tenants Union of Washington State
This is the section of the RCW that details Landlord/Tenant rights:
Title 59 RCW: Landlord and tenant
Also, note that the eviction process is a lengthy and expensive one for any landlord, and thats the piece that I find mildly troublesome.
Before I begin this next section, my family owns property in the Seattle Area, from Everett to Seattle. We have had to evict tenants before for failure to pay rent. The full process is ugly, nasty and unpleasant and expensive. It is not something I yearn to repeat, and this has skewed my views with the tenant laws.
That being said, this statement off the tenants union site angers me:
"The laws in Washington are so bad that landlords can give us a 3-day notice if we are just a day late or a dollar short paying the rent."
They do go on to explain the next piece of the puzzle:
"But the landlord cannot kick you out at the end of those 3 days."
The 3-day is just the tip of the iceberg, and the actual process takes at least a month or more from there. Meantime, the landlord eats up legal fees, loses 2 months+ of rent, and then probably has to do repairs when they leave. Its nasty, and I hate it. I hate having to move someone out of where they live, but I hate people leeching on us like that.
Sorry, /rant.
Okay, back to things I wanted to address.
The laws are set up in a timeframe manner. The landlord HAS to do things in the right time period, with the right paperwork, etc, to evict you legally. Knowing YOUR rights is key in this process. My friends freaked out over a 3-day notice. They were just naive as to what their rights are. And, while I disagree with the rights in regards to people defaulting on rent, I agree with them for the most part. There are scummy people out there, landlords and tenants alike. And the scummy landlords have the power and ability to handle scummy tenants, and thats why the laws are structured as they are.
Document. Document. Document. Paper is the best thing in your defense, make sure you have a receipt from your landlord that you've paid rent, or that he's fixed things, etc. I cannot stress this enough. And, if you dislike your landlord, move. There are plenty of places for rent in Seattle right now, and I'm sure there are good people with places for rent. (I believe everything we own is up north and occupied right now, otherwise I'd offer to pass information on)
Protection against your place being sold.
A month-to-month does not require the landlord to renew the lease, but he must give 30? day notice that he wants the property back.
A 6 month, or year lease or whatever, may have clauses and thats where reading the fine print comes in handy. I rented in an apartment building for a while, and the lease did not have clauses about selling, etc. Which generally means that your lease exists semi-independent of the owner of the property. I believe that its possible a new owner may break a lease, but would have to give due notice, I want to say 60 days in this case, before you'd have to vacate.
If people care about actual dates, I can ask my father, who has been both a realtor and landlord for more years than I've been alive. He's the most proficient person I know in the Seattle area for Landlord/tenant rights.
I hope I helped, and didn't offend anyone.
Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 700,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 15,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads. 
another question about home rentals
Linear Mode
