Transcript Ten Things a Renter in WA State Should Know

Ten Things a Renter
in WA State Should
Know
Leona Bratz
Housing Justice Project Attorney
Snohomish County Legal Services
[email protected]
Housing Justice Project
• A homelessness
prevention program
that provides free legal
services to qualified
low-income tenants
facing eviction in
Snohomish County
• Tuesday, Wednesday
and Thursday
mornings, 10 am –
noon, at Snohomish
County Courthouse
Preliminary information first…
• TENANCIES
• Created when
someone rents a
“dwelling unit”
• Residential Landlord
Tenant Act (RLTA)
governs
landlord/tenant
relationships
• Agreement could be
verbal or written
• 2 BASIC TYPES
OF TENANCIES
• Term Lease
• Month to Month
Lease
Eviction Process
• ILLEGAL FOR
LANDLORD TO EVICT
A TENANT ON
HIS/HER OWN
• LANDLORD IS
SUPPOSED TO
FOLLOW THE LAW
AND OBTAIN A
COURT ORDER TO
EVICT
• DOESN’T MEAN
LANDLORDS ALWAYS
FOLLOW THE LAW!
Ten Things a Renter
in WA State Should
Know …
True or False?
• You are a first time renter. You signed a
lease right after graduation but did not
read it carefully. You now want out of the
lease because you have a much better
rental opportunity with some friends. The
penalty provisions in the lease do not
apply to you because you are only 18 years
old and you were not aware of the law or
the penalties.
10. LEARN ABOUT YOUR
RIGHTS & OBLIGATIONS AS A
TENANT BEFORE YOU EVEN
THINK ABOUT RENTING!
• Ignorance of the law is not an excuse for a tenant.
• WWW.WASHINGTONLAWHELP.ORG
www.washingtonlawhelp.org
What do you owe?
• You and your roommate signed a one year
lease. Two months into your lease, your
roommate tells you he is going to move to
Hawaii and he leaves the day rent is due
without paying his half of the rent. You
pay your half of rent to your landlord.
Your landlord demands the full amount of
rent from you. What do you owe your
landlord?
9.
CAREFULLY CHOOSE
RESPONSIBLE ROOMMATES.
• JOINT AND SEVERAL
LIABILITY
• YOUR ROOMMATE
COULD RUIN YOUR
RENTAL RECORD OR
CREDIT
8.
RESEARCH POTENTIAL
RENTAL UNITS AND
SURROUNDING AREAS.
7.
READ YOUR LEASE
BEFORE YOU SIGN IT EVEN IF
IT SEEMS LONG AND BORING.
True or False?
• You have paid your rent on time for 6
months in a row. Unfortunately, you had a
medical emergency and could not work.
You don’t have the money for rent now
but you can catch up in a few months.
Because it was a situation beyond your
control, your landlord is obligated to work
with you on a payment plan for your rent.
6.
MAKE SURE YOU CAN
AFFORD THE RENT EACH
MONTH AFTER CONSIDERING
ALL OF YOUR BILLS.
Can your landlord do this?
• You have been a great tenant and you have a
good rental reputation. When you were out of
town for a night, your roommate had friends
over and they had an all-night party. One of
your roommate’s friends damaged items in the
lobby of your apartment building. The very next
morning, your landlord served you and your
roommate with a 10 day notice to pay or vacate
for the damage done.
5. COMPLY WITH YOUR
LEASE. ENSURE THAT YOUR
ROOMMATES ALSO COMPLY
AND GUESTS BEHAVE.
ILLEGAL DRUGS & ACTIVITIES
CAN MAKE YOU HOMELESS.
Who will the Judge believe?
• You’ve been paying your rent on time but it
bothers you that your landlord will only accept
cash and won’t give receipts. It also bothers you
that the landlord won’t repair problems in the
unit. You give your landlord a written notice
asking for repairs to finally be made. Your
landlord immediately gives you a 3 day notice to
pay rent or vacate, alleging that you haven’t paid
rent for 3 months. You refuse to pay because
you did pay rent and you won’t allow your
landlord to lie and collect double rent. He sues
you for past due rent and you end up in court.
4. PROTECT YOURSELF
WITH DOCUMENTATION:
Receipts, Itemizations,
Photos, Copies of Repair
Requests, etc.
3. BE A GOOD TENANT AS A
GOOD REFERENCE FROM
YOUR LANDLORD CAN BE
VERY VALUABLE.
BAD TENANTS CAN BE SUED FOR MUCH
MORE THAN RENT AND DAMAGE DEPOSITS.
Can the tenant legally withhold
her rent?
• An elderly, low income tenant lives in an apartment complex
where there are a lot of problems. All of the units have mold,
some of the units have bedbugs or rats, and most of the units
have a number of other problems. The elderly tenant has
mold and bedbugs in her unit, as well as plumbing problems
which result in sewage occasionally coming out of her bathtub
faucet. She asked her landlord many times to repair the
problems in her unit and he has ignored her. She is frustrated
and feels it is only fair for her to withhold rent until the
landlord repairs the problems he has known about for
months.
2.
DO NOT WITHHOLD RENT,
EVEN IF CONDITIONS ARE
TERRIBLE, OR YOU WILL BE
SERVED A 3 DAY PAY RENT OR
VACATE EVICTION NOTICE.
1. TAKE ALL NOTICES
SERIOUSLY AND RESPOND
QUICKLY AS THEY ARE THE
STARTING POINT FOR THE
EVICTION PROCESS.
• 3 DAY NOTICE TO PAY RENT
OR VACATE
• 10 DAY NOTICE TO COMPLY
WITH THE LEASE OR VACATE
• 20 DAY NOTICE TO
TERMINATE THE TENANCY
How will the Judge rule?
• You and your roommate are always late in paying
your rent. Every month for the past 8 months,
your landlord either accepts the late rent or he
posts 3 day pay rent or vacate notices on your
door, but allows you to pay within 1-2 weeks of
the notice. One day, you are served with an
eviction summons and complaint. You plan to
tell the judge that the case should be thrown out
because your landlord has always allowed you to
pay late and shouldn’t be able to complain about
it now.
ONCE THE NOTICE PERIOD
EXPIRES, A LANDLORD CAN
FILE AN EVICTION LAWSUIT.
**Don’t ever ask a landlord or the landlord’s
attorney to file the lawsuit if it is unfiled.**
An eviction record is a huge
factor in homelessness.
• Immediately after an
unlawful detainer
(eviction) lawsuit is
filed with the Clerk’s
Office, the eviction
becomes part of a
person’s permanent
public record.
“Filed” evictions are used by a
number of landlords/screening
companies as an automatic
disqualifier for many tenants in the
rental application process.
ONCE AN EVICTION IS FILED,
THE CHANCES OF BECOMING
HOMELESS INCREASES.
YOUR RENTAL REPUTATION
STARTS WITH YOUR FIRST
TENANCY AND WILL BE WITH YOU
INDEFINITELY.
START OFF WELL & GOOD LUCK!
ASK FOR GUIDANCE AND/OR HELP FROM:
 PARENTS, GUARDIANS, AND OTHER ADULTS YOU TRUST
TENANT AGENCIES (SOLID GROUND AND TENANTS UNION)
LEGAL AID AGENCIES (CLEAR AND HOUSING JUSTICE PROJECT)
Other Help for Tenants
• There is help in the
community if
emergency
assistance or shelter
is needed.
• Contact:
• 211 (Resource hotline)
• Volunteers of America
• Churches, etc.