S-1552.1          _______________________________________________

                            SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5180

                  _______________________________________________

State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1991 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senators Nelson, Vognild and Sellar).

Read first time February 20, 1991.Restricting civil actions to appoint receivers to manage real property.

     AN ACT Relating to cities and towns; and adding a new section to chapter 35.80 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 35.80 RCW to read as follows:

     A city or town may authorize civil actions by private parties to seek the appointment of a receiver to manage privately owned, leased, or rented residential and multifamily real property on the grounds that the property is unfit or in violation of state or local health and safety laws.  For the purposes of this section:

     (1) A receiver may not be appointed unless a tenant has requested the appropriate local government to inspect the premises under RCW 59.18.115 and the building inspector has certified that the premises is substantially unfit for human habitation or is a substantial risk to the health and safety of the tenant, and at least three months have elapsed since the certification and the landlord has not remedied the substandard or dangerous conditions; and

     (2) Before appointing a receiver, the court shall make a finding based on substantial and compelling evidence that uninhabitable conditions exist in the property at issue.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.