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 The 36th Annual TRENDS Conference & Trade Show is going virtual! We’re excited to offer guests a robust digital experience with all of the great content and exhibitor engagement that TRENDS is known for. Plus, you can tune in from anywhere!
Event registration includes access to educational workshops, panels and webinars taught by industry experts. Admission also includes access to the trade show and all virtual exhibitor booths. Conference Registration is currently on sale for just $40! Be sure to register now to lock-in your early bird pricing. We’re looking forward to another great conference and trade show and are excited to see you there (digitally)! By now, I hope, most of you are aware from my several zoom meetings, contacting me, media or own research, what the 4 allowed reasons to terminate a tenancy are under the current emergency governor's proclamation 20.19.3. If not I will refresh here in a moment but you should all be aware that the Supreme Court of Washington just threw in another huge wrinkle. I should also touch base again on the new CDC order in case you could not make the zoom meetings.
As to the first two reasons, you are allowed to terminate a month to month or a lease on its natural expiration date if the landlord is either selling the property or moving in themselves if you give at least 60 days’ notice in the way required by the Residential Landlord Tenant Act. The emergency proclamation specifically says it must be read in term of that act so nothing has vacated the requirement that the termination notice be effective only on the last day of the rental period or in other words the last day of the contract. Similarly, the method of notice must be the same as always including adding an additional day if posted and mailed. What has been added to the normal notice requirement along with the increase to 60 days is that it must be accompanied by an affidavit sworn under the penalty of perjury as to the specifics of the purpose for the termination. We have these forms. Second two reasons are either serious (read that structural type) damages caused by the tenant or that tenant causing a serious and immediate threat to the health and safety of another. The nuances of all this are too complicated for a written article but I can almost guarantee that our landlord, and I am one, reach an opinion that damage is serious significantly earlier than the law. Additionally the terms serious and immediate are issues of fact not issues of law and what that means in my opinion is that if you use this approach you are almost certainly guaranteed to have to go to trial and will not be successful at a show cause hearing. That means additional complications and risk that are not simply explained in an article. Both these methods also require the new affidavit and also are subject to the same notice delivery requirements but if you use a 20 day termination thinking it does not rise to the level of a 3 day quit notice then the Attorney General will attempt to shut you down or come after you arguing that you have undermined your own argument about the seriousness or immediateness requirement by giving that time. Now that version of the order is set to expire 15 October 2020 but I am absolutely certain it will be extended as the governor has a hand-picked task force loaded with what appear to be large donors to his campaign and a single big corporate landlord and tenant advocates working on making recommendations for going forward. I would not expect landlord friendly results out of this task force if I were you. Next the CDC order does not, at present, apply to our situation in that it only prevents evictions based on non-payment of rent due to a covid19 hardship. Our state currently has a stricter rule in place, so the CDC order does not prevent anything already prevented and it does not prevent evictions for other reasons such as bad actors or the natural end of a lease or contract. The relevance of the CDC order may change when the current governor’s proclamation is modified next so do not assume this evaluation to remain unchanged all the way to the end of the year when the CDC order is set to expire. Finally, the Washington Supreme Court has just added a new wrinkle as of 9 September 2020. We can argue whether or not they have over stepped and taken on the legislative role themselves but absent some action on that front this order will be followed by the various superior courts of every county in the state. I will skip all the whereas language that sets the table and simply post the actual order language here: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED: This Court recognizes the authority of superior courts in Washington to implement an eviction resolution program for litigants to participate in prior to the filing of an unlawful detainer action in court, and to take all necessary steps to support such a program, including but not limited to, entering local orders and contracting with service providers. DATED at Olympia, Washington this 9th day of September 2020. So if I read this correctly what it means is that each Superior Court of every different county can impose a different process/program of its own creation that may be required before allowing the filing of an unlawful detainer. So, what this means to those people who have given a notice to terminate already is unknown and may likely be different from county to county. What that means for due process or the abuse of the same may be different from county to county. What the application of this may mean to the governor’s modification to the proclamation going forward, if any, remains unknown. As I have said before the Washington Landlord Association is participating in a lawsuit to attempt to protect the rights of landlords. We have donated and continue to fundraise through legal defense fund and are also helping to find plaintiff ’s injured unjustly by an over broad and over reaching proclamation. If any of you are interested in being a plaintiff and having your story added to the suit you can provide that information here. https://www.walandlord.org/have-your-voice-heard-by-the-governor.html I want to emphasize that it is quite appropriate and helpful, to have your tenants who are being injured by other bad acting tenants join and participate. It is a stone cold fact that our good tenants are being damaged by this over broad and over reaching proclamation just as landlords are. It’s not just stories about income, retirement investments and savings being taken from landlords by this approach but tenants being victimized. Stay tuned all! ◊ -Rob Trickler, WLA President & Attorney 425-303-8000 | reception@tricklerlaw.com By the Rental Housing Journal
The rent payment tracker for June showed 92.2 percent of apartment households had paid some rent by June 20, according to a release from The National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC). The NMHC found in its survey of 11.4 million units of professionally managed apartment units across the country that 92.2 percent of apartment households made a full or partial rent payment by June 20. This is unchanged from the share who paid rent through June 20, 2019 and compares to 90.8 percent that had paid by May 20, 2020. These data encompass a wide variety of market-rate rental properties across the United States, which can vary by size, type and average rental price, according to the release. The NMHC Rent Payment Tracker metric can provide insight into changes in resident rent payment behavior over the course of each month, and, as the dataset ages, between months. While the tracker is intended to serve as an indicator of resident financial challenges, it is also intended to track the recovery as well, including the effectiveness of government stimulus and subsidies. However, noteworthy technical issues may make historical comparisons imprecise. For example, factors such as varying days of the week on which data are collected; individual companies’ differing payment collection policies; shelter-in-place orders’ effects on residents’ ability to deliver payments in person or by mail; the closure of leasing offices, which may delay operators’ payment processing; and other factors can affect how and when rent data is processed and recorded. Total unit counts may change as units are leased or vacated and survey methodology is refined. “With the support of expanded unemployment benefits, stimulus funds and significant efforts by apartment community owners and operators to help residents impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19 and resulting financial hardships, it seem most renters were once again able to meet their obligations,” Doug Bibby, NMHC President, said in the release. “The early steps taken by lawmakers have proven critical to keeping many safely and securely housed. As we move forward and the economy begins to recover, it will be vitally important that lawmakers continue to support the nation’s renters and forestall even greater economic harm,” he said. 3 In 10 Americans Missed Housing Payments in June Hello WLA Members:
Please see the below announcement from Governor Inslee on the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) offering immediate relief to homeowners unable to make mortgage payments due to COVID-19. Those that are unable to make their mortgage payments are encouraged to contact DFI’s toll-free number, 877-RING-DFI (746-4334), or visit www.homeownership.wa.gov. Thank you in advance. Many thanks. Mark Gjurasic Public Affairs of Washington, LLC mgjurasic@comcast.net (360) 481-6000 Inslee and DFI announce assistance for homeowners unable to make mortgage payments! Today, Gov. Jay Inslee and Charlie Clark, director of the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) announced the state is taking steps to assist distressed Washington homeowners who are unable to make their mortgage payments due to COVID-19 (coronavirus) restrictions. “The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the finances of Washingtonians hard," Inslee said. "We know this is across the board and we are exploring ways to help alleviate some of the pressure. At my request, the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions has a team dedicated to assisting homeowners who are unable to make their mortgage payments due to COVID-19.” DFI’s guidance to companies servicing mortgages in Washington state urges them to work with homeowners adversely impacted by COVID-19, including payment forbearance for those who need it. That guidance is posted on the department's web site: www.dfi.wa.gov. “In addition to recent federal relief available to struggling homeowners, our financial institutions have responded positively to DFI’s recent guidance requesting that they offer immediate relief,” Clark said. “It is now extremely important that homeowners having difficulty paying their mortgage as a result of COVID-19 know about the options available to them. DFI is committed to doing what we can to help struggling borrowers take advantage of the programs and resources that have become available. Helping consumers is what we do." In addition to today's action, Inslee announced a moratorium on evictions on March 18, that includes:
Homeowners in distress may call DFI’s toll-free number, 877-RING-DFI (746-4334), or visit www.homeownership.wa.gov to get assistance on how best to contact their mortgage servicer and to learn more about their options. On the heels of some very good results out of this legislative session I would like to announce some changes coming to Washington Landlord association very quickly. It begins with the bitter sweet news that Mark Gjurasic has finally elected to enjoy some retirement with his lovely wife and foster children. After this session and several decades of hard dedicated and fruitful representation Mark is ready to pass the baton to our great friend Chester Baldwin in a full time capacity. This change also sees us making additional changes to our organization in that Chester has elected to step back from our volunteer attorney help line. To help facilitate a more equitable share of responsibility WLA will be relocating our offices from Chester’s office space to a new site at: 1219 11th Ave SE Suite 101, Olympia, WA 98501 The Olympia Office will be moving on Friday, February 28th and will be closed until Monday. We will be providing a map to the new location on our website (please scroll down below to view map) and hope to have it available at the old office for a short time as well. I just want to say that I have very much appreciated Chester’s stellar and generous help over the years and I look forward to his continued and increasing efforts as our lobbyist in decades to come. With regard to the help line our process remains the same. I will be available for questions related to the west side and Eric Steven for the east side. That being said the process has been misunderstood by some so I want to take a quick minute to remind our members about some of the details regarding our help line. Advice is limited to 10 or 15 minutes as the attorney is available. Attorney advice may also come from that attorney’s staff. Advice is limited to landlord tenant issues and we are not offering to give advice on any other subject matter. If you call the attorney directly you are not being offered the WLA membership benefit and you must first call one of the WLA office employees to see if they can respond to your query with best practices advice. If not then you may be referred to the volunteer attorney. Once again I just wish to conclude with a profound thank you to Mark and excitement with what the future will bring under Chester’s lobby administration. New WLA Olympia Office Location - Map 
Day on the Hill Agenda Thursday, January 30th, 2020 9:00 – 9:20 Legislative Building, State Seal Legislative Briefing; receive packets Mark Gjurasic, Chester Baldwin & Rob Trickler 9:00 – 5:00 Washington State Capital Individual Legislative Meetings Scheduled by each WLA Member 1:30 – 3:30 JA Cherberg Building Room 4 Senate Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation Committee Hearing OPPOSE SB 6490 : Addressing housing concerns for individuals impacted by the criminal justice system. Sponsors - Senators: Darneille, Das, Kuderer, Lovelett, Nguyen, Saldaña, Wilson, C. 5:00 – 6:00 Hotel RL, Olympia Expert Speaker Panel Q&A 2020 Legislation: Criminal Records, Just Cause 2300 Evergreen Park Drive SW · Olympia, WA 98502 Rent Control, Unreasonable Documentation 6:00 – 8:30 Hotel RL, Olympia WLA Day on the Hill Legislative Reception Reception includes a free buffet dinner for WLA members & $50 for non-members. Cocktails will be $10 (includes 2) 2300 Evergreen Park Drive SW · Olympia, WA 98502 Legislative Day on the Hill Agenda - PDF LINK Dear WLA Members:
Please notice that the bills that we oppose (HB 2520 & HB 2453) are scheduled for Executive Session (vote out of committee) on Friday, January 31 at 10:00 a.m. in the Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee in the John L. O’Brien Building Room A. Our members should contact the committee to oppose these bills. Provided in the following is a link to the contact info of the committee members: http://leg.wa.gov/House/Committees/CRJ/Pages/MembersStaff.aspx
1. HB 2453/SB 6379 – Statewide Just Cause – Further Statewide Tenancy Restrictions. Creates statewide Just Cause restrictions similar to the City of Seattle:
Sponsors: Representatives Macri, Thai, Lekanoff, Gregerson, Robinson, Ryu, Frame, Kloba, Peterson, Santos, Bergquist, Johnson, J., Davis, Pollet; Senators Kuderer, Darneille, Das, Keiser, Lovelett, Saldaña STATUS HB: House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee Executive Session: Friday, January 31 at 10:00 a.m. – JLOB Rm A STATUS SB: Senate Housing Stability & Affordability Committee 2. HB 2520 – Requires Excessive Documentation to Withhold from a Deposit. This legislation would make it unreasonably difficult for a landlord to withhold legitimate damage from a tenant’s security deposit:
Sponsors: Representatives Thai, Macri, Doglio, Morgan, Entenman, Pollet, Ryu, Robinson STATUS: House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee Executive Session: Friday, January 31 at 10:00 a.m. – JLOB Rm A If you need anything else, please let me know. Thank you in advance. Many thanks. Mark Gjurasic Public Affairs of Washington, LLC mgjurasic@comcast.net (360) 481-6000 Dear WLA Members:
Attached in the PDF link below is the Action Alert on SB 6490 - Endangering Tenant Safety - which is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation Committee on Thursday, January 30 at 1:30 p.m. in the John A. Cherberg Building, Room 4. (Address: 304 15th Ave SW Olympia, WA 98504) WLA opposes this bill! To contact the Committee Members about this bill, please see the following link: Senate Human Services, Reentry & Rehabilitation Committee - Contact Info - Link ACTION ALERT ON SB 6490 - PDF LINK Thank you in advance. Many thanks. Mark Gjurasic Public Affairs of Washington, LLC mgjurasic@comcast.net (360) 481-6000 |
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