BILL REQ. #:  H-0515.1 

Read first time 01/15/09.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to the disposition of a deceased tenant's personal property; and adding a new section to chapter 59.18 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 59.18 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Upon the death of a tenant and the subsequent default in the payment of rent by the tenant, the landlord may immediately enter and take possession of any property of the tenant found on the premises and may store the property in a reasonably secure place. A landlord must treat the personal property as abandoned as described in RCW 59.18.310.
     (2) Upon the death of a tenant, a person may not enter the tenant's unit and remove personal property and household goods, other than burial clothes, a pet, the deceased tenant's will, or any perishable items, without a certified copy of any testamentary letters or affidavit of successor as described in RCW 11.62.010 or otherwise meeting the requirements of RCW 11.62.010.
     (3) If at the time of a tenant's death there is no other person listed on the lease and at any time after forty days from the date of the tenant's death, a person who has possession of any personal property belonging to the decedent shall deliver the personal property to a person claiming to be a successor of the decedent upon the receipt of proof of death and an affidavit made by the person claiming to be the successor of the decedent that meets the requirements of RCW 11.62.010.
     (4) If, after forty days but no later than forty-five days after the tenant's death, a successor does not claim the deceased tenant's personal property but a closest surviving relation of the deceased tenant exists and claims possession of the tenant's personal property, the surviving relation must fill out a dated, signed, and notarized affidavit of next of kin that includes: The date that the decedent passed away; the nature of the surviving relation's relationship to the decedent; and a statement that he or she is the closest surviving relative (a) asking for the possession and location of the decedent's personal property and (b) indemnifying and holding harmless the rental unit's owner, its agents, employees, or principal from a third party who claims the right to the decedent's personal property.