House Bill 1236 has passed the Washington State legislature and has been signed by Governor Inslee.
According to the bill, a landlord may not end a tenancy except for some specific reasons.
If a landlord and tenant enter into a rental agreement that provides for the tenancy to continue for an indefinite period on a month-to-month or periodic basis after the agreement expires, the landlord may not end the tenancy except for certain enumerated causes.
The causes include, generally speaking (click on the link below for the actual bill for the exact language):
- not paying rent;
- substantial breach of a material program requirement of subsidized housing, a material term within the lease, or a tenant obligation imposed by law, after the landlord has provided notice;
- waste or nuisance, unlawful activity that affects the use and enjoyment of the premises, or other substantial or repeated and unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of the premises by the landlord or neighbors;
- the landlord in good faith seeks possession so that the owner or his or her immediate family may occupy the unit as that person’s principal residence and no substantially equivalent unit is vacant and available to house the owner or his or her immediate family in the same building, and the owner has provided at least 90 days’ advance written notice;
- the owner elects to sell a single-family residence and the landlord has provided at least 90 days’ advance written notice;
- the owner elects to perform a condo conversion;
- the rental agreement ends without the tenant signing a proposed new rental agreement proffered by the landlord; provided, that the landlord proffered the proposed new rental agreement at least 30 days prior to the expiration of the current rental agreement and that any new terms and conditions of the proposed new rental agreement are reasonable. (QUERY: HOW MUCH OF A RENT INCREASE IS REASONABLE? THIS IS ONE STEP CLOSER TO RENT CONTROL).
- intentional, knowing, and material misrepresentations or omissions made on the tenant’s application at the inception of the tenancy that, had these misrepresentations or omissions not been made, would have resulted in the landlord requesting additional information or taking an adverse action; and
- other less common causes.
It is a bad idea to draft a lease that converts to a month-to-month tenancy after the first year or 6 month period.
The text of the bill is here: