A Senate Bill in Washington State would prohibit landlords from terminating, or refusing to renew a rental lease that expires at the end of the lease term, until 2 years after expiration of any public health emergency. The only exceptions are if the landlord indents to sell the property or occupy the property as a personal residence, and provides 60 days notice on a form signed under penalty of perjury (or if landlord and tenant reside in the same dwelling unit).
The bill also prohibits a tenant’s right to possession of a residential dwelling unit to be conditioned on any rent that accrued between March 1, 2020 and the expiration of the governor’s eviction moratorium (has not happened yet).
Though a landlord is stuck with a tenant for two years, a tenant adversely impacted by the Wuhan coronavirus may terminate their tenancy upon a 20 day written notice.
The bill also prohibits landlords from charging late fees during any public health emergency.
A landlord may not inquire about, consider, or require disclosure of a potential tenant’s medical history unless necessary to evaluate a request for reasonable accommodation.
Before any collection action for unpaid rent accrued between March 1, 2020 and the eviction moratorium expiration date, a landlord must first offer a repayment plan based on the individual, financial, health, or other circumstances or life-sustaining financial obligations of the tenant. In other words, landlords must offer a 0 interest loan to tenants based on the their ability to pay. Landlords should be much more careful about what tenants they accept. Requiring a relatively high credit score may help screen out tenants who are likely to fail to honor their promises.
The bill also applies to persons residing in hotels, motels, or camping areas for more than 14 days.
Landlords may be penalized up to four and a half times monthly rent plus court costs and attorneys’ fees for violations.
This is currently just a bill and has not been passed. But it provides an indication of how some people in Washington State’s government are thinking. They don’t care much for landlords.
If a tenant stops paying rent, and evictions lawyers don’t see any clear way to evict, the best option for the landlord may be to sell. This is assuming that the property is in Washington State and subject to the current prohibition on evictions or this new proposed law.
If the landlord owns a single family house, a higher price can usually be obtained by selling to owner-occupants as opposed to selling to other landlords. That is because cap rates are currently very low in Washington State. Landlords, who buy based on cash flow or cap rate numbers, do not perceive the same value that owner occupants perceive. Landlords will sell to owner occupants instead of to other landlords. These sales will reduce the stock of rental housing. The state should look ahead to the consequences of their actions and plan to build some government run social housing, if they care at all about tenants.
You can read the bill here:
http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2021-22/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5160.pdf?q=20210116092216