FINAL BILL REPORT

                                   ESSB 5986

                                   C 38 L 92

                              SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

Brief Description:  Expanding the duties of tenants under the landlord‑tenant act.

SPONSORS: Senate Committee on Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senators Wojahn, Newhouse and Rasmussen)

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LAW & JUSTICE

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HOUSING

BACKGROUND:

The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act lists the statutory obligations of a tenant.  The act also allows a landlord to terminate a rental agreement and evict a tenant who violates any of the enumerated statutory obligations.

It is suggested that the list of statutory tenant duties be expanded to include a prohibition against engaging in gang activities which endanger the premises or any neighboring premises or persons.

SUMMARY:

A tenant can terminate a rental agreement, leave the premises, and remain eligible for recovering his or her damage deposit and last month's rent under the following circumstance:  (1) a tenant has a valid protective order which has been violated by the person to be restrained since the tenant occupied the dwelling unit, the tenant has notified law enforcement officials about the violation, and a copy of the protective order is available to the landlord; or (2) a tenant, or another tenant who shares a particular dwelling unit, has been threatened by another tenant with a firearm or deadly weapon, which resulted in an arrest, and the landlord fails to file an unlawful detainer action against the tenant making the threats within seven days after receiving notice of the arrest; a tenant can also terminate the rental agreement if the landlord has threatened the tenant with a firearm or other deadly weapon.

Tenants are specifically prohibited from engaging in any activity at the rental premises that is imminently hazardous to the physical safety of other persons on the premises and which entails physical assaults on others or the unlawful use of a firearm or other deadly weapon.

A landlord is not required to evict a tenant who threatens other tenants.  A landlord may, however, proceed directly to an unlawful detainer action against any tenant who is arrested for creating an imminent hazard to the physical safety of other persons on the premises.  A landlord may not be held liable for bringing an unlawful detainer action against a tenant for creating such an imminent hazard if the action is filed in good faith.

A law enforcement agency which arrests a tenant for threatening another tenant with a firearm or other deadly weapon, for unlawful use of a firearm, or for physically assaulting another person on the rental premises must make a reasonable attempt to identify and notify the landlord about the arrest in writing.  The notification must be sent to the last address listed in the property tax records and at any other address known to the law enforcement agency.

A process is established for allowing a landlord to recover the costs of moving and storing a tenant's property that is left behind after an eviction.

The unlawful use of a firearm or other deadly weapon by a person in or adjacent to his or her dwelling and that imminently threatens the physical safety of others in the adjacent area is considered a nuisance and can be abated.

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

Senate      45    0

House 96    0     (House amended)

Senate      47    0     (Senate concurred)

EFFECTIVE:  June 1, 1992