BILL REQ. #:  H-3600.2 

Read first time 01/19/12.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to criminal activities occurring at rental properties; amending RCW 9A.52.070, 59.04.050, and 59.18.075; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that rightful tenants at rental properties have been terrorized and intimidated by individuals involved with criminal street gang activities and other criminal activity. People have been coerced from their rental units allowing trespassers to occupy the property and thus subjecting other tenants to fear and exposure to criminal environments. While existing law provides legitimate tenants with adequate protection from irresponsible eviction, those protections should not be extended to members of gangs and persons illegally occupying rental properties. For the protection of innocent and law-abiding tenants, it is the intent of this act to provide landlords and law enforcement with the tools to identify and expeditiously remove squatters, gang influences, and those engaged in criminal activities from rental properties.

Sec. 2   RCW 9A.52.070 and 2011 c 336 s 372 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the first degree if:
     (a) He or she knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in a building; or
     (b) He or she is a tenant by sufferance as described in RCW 59.04.050, or resides at a rental property and is not listed as a tenant on a rental agreement or as a guest in an affidavit signed by the owner or an agent of the owner of the property, and he or she refuses to immediately upon demand surrender possession of the premises to the owner, or vacate the property, including other rental areas or common areas held by the owner.
     (2)(a) In any prosecution under subsection (1)(b) of this section, it is a defense that the person who refuses to surrender possession or vacate the property can produce:
     (i) An executed copy of a written rental agreement as provided in RCW 59.18.065, identifying the person as a lawful tenant of the rental property; or
     (ii) An affidavit signed by the owner or an agent of the owner that allows the person to reside as a guest at the rental property for a specified period of time.
     (b) It is not a defense in any prosecution under subsection (1)(b) of this section that the person who refuses to surrender possession or vacate the property was invited into the property by a lawful tenant of the property unless the tenant was an agent of the owner.
     (3) Criminal trespass in the first degree is a gross misdemeanor.

Sec. 3   RCW 59.04.050 and 2010 c 8 s 19002 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Whenever any person obtains possession of premises without the consent of the owner or other person having the right to give said possession, he or she shall be deemed a tenant by sufferance merely, and shall be liable to pay reasonable rent for the actual time he or she occupied the premises, and shall forthwith on demand surrender his or her said possession to the owner or person who had the right of possession before said entry, and all his or her right to possession of said premises shall terminate immediately upon said demand.
     (2) Any owner or agent of the owner who has demanded a tenant by sufferance to vacate the owner's property may request law enforcement to remove the tenant by sufferance as a trespasser under RCW 9A.52.070.

Sec. 4   RCW 59.18.075 and 1992 c 38 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Any law enforcement agency which seizes a legend drug pursuant to a violation of chapter 69.41 RCW, a controlled substance pursuant to a violation of chapter 69.50 RCW, or an imitation controlled substance pursuant to a violation of chapter 69.52 RCW, shall make a reasonable attempt to discover the identity of the landlord and shall notify the landlord in writing, at the last address listed in the property tax records and at any other address known to the law enforcement agency, of the seizure and the location of the seizure of the illegal drugs or substances.
     (2) Any law enforcement agency which arrests a tenant for threatening another tenant with a firearm or other deadly weapon, or for some other unlawful use of a firearm or other deadly weapon on the rental premises, or for physically assaulting another person on the rental premises, shall make a reasonable attempt to discover the identity of the landlord and notify the landlord about the arrest in writing, at the last address listed in the property tax records and at any other address known to the law enforcement agency.
     (3) Any law enforcement agency that has found that a tenant or other resident of a dwelling unit is engaged in criminal street gang activity as identified in RCW 9.94A.030 or human trafficking as identified in RCW 9A.40.100, or has been called to a rental property to investigate criminal street gang activity or human trafficking, shall make a reasonable attempt to discover the identity of the landlord and shall notify the landlord in writing, at the last address listed in the property tax records and at any other address known to the law enforcement agency, of the criminal street gang activity or human trafficking occurring at the landlord's rental property. The law enforcement agency shall include with the notice:
     (a) The names of the tenant and individual or individuals who were engaged in any activity described in this subsection;
     (b) The dwelling unit where the incident occurred;
     (c) The date of the incident;
     (d) Actions taken by the law enforcement agency;
     (e) A statement outlining the authority of a landlord to:
     (i) Evict under this chapter a tenant who possesses a lawful rental agreement but is engaged in an activity identified in this subsection; or
     (ii) Identify to law enforcement that the person is a tenant by sufferance, and the landlord may exercise the owner's authority under RCW 59.04.050; and
     (f) Any penalties that may be assessed against the landlord for failure to abate the nuisance created by the activity identified in this subsection.