Service of Rent Increase Notices under the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act.

Rent increase notices under the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act (MHLTA) must be served in the same manner as unlawful detainer notices.

Service of Unlawful Detainer Notices.

With some exceptions, unlawful detainer notices must be served either: 

1. by personal delivery to the person entitled to the notice; 
2. if the person entitled to the notice is not on the unlawfully held premises, by leaving a copy with a person of suitable age and discretion at the premises and sending a copy by certified mail posted from within the state to the last known address of the person entitled to the notice; or 
3. if the person entitled to the notice is a tenant or unlawful occupant whose place of residence is not known, or if a person of suitable age and discretion cannot be found at the premises, by doing all three of the following:  affixing a copy of the notice in a conspicuous place on the premises unlawfully held, delivering a copy to a person residing at the premises if such a person can be found, and mailing a copy addressed to the tenant or unlawful occupant at the unlawfully held premises.

When a copy of an unlawful detainer notice is sent through the mail, service is deemed complete when the copy is deposited in the mail by certified mail, postage prepaid, posted from within the state, and directed to the last known address of the person entitled to the notice.  When service is made by mail, five additional days must be allowed before the commencement of an action based upon the notice.

Service of Other Notices under the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act.

Other than rent increase notices, any notice required to be given to a tenant by a landlord under the MHLTA must be served by personal delivery, or if the tenant is absent from the home, by affixing a copy of the notice in a conspicuous place on the home and also mailing a copy to the tenant's last known address.

The requirement that MHLTA rent increase notices be served in the same manner as unlawful detainer notices is removed.  Rent increase notices under the MHLTA must be served in the same manner as required for other notices under the MHLTA:  by personal delivery, or if the tenant is absent from the home, by affixing a copy of the notice in a conspicuous place on the home and also mailing a copy to the tenant's last known address.

(In support) Due to changes made in the last legislative session, landlords have had to serve rent increase notices by certified mail.  This bill addresses some unintended consequence of last year's legislation.  It removes the requirement to serve a rent increase notice by certified mail. 

Certified mail is ineffective for rent increase notices.  If no one is home when a postal worker tries to deliver certified mail, they leave a postal service slip that the tenant must use to pick up their mail at the post office.  Housing providers find that tenants are not picking up their certified mail and therefore are not getting their notices.  It can be difficult for tenants to go into federal post office buildings to pick up their certified mail.  Removing the certified mail requirement is a good first step to improve the odds of a tenant receiving a rent increase notice.

For many housing providers, the current requirements are costly and inefficient.  Some experienced postage cost increases of over 130 percent last year.  Housing providers have been required to send thousands of pieces of certified mail.  For some housing providers, more than 60 percent of certified mail notices do not make it to the tenants and are returned undelivered.  This also creates a significant amount of paper waste.  When operating costs increase, they are passed on to tenants.

Some landlords have also had residents complain about the posting of notices on the door of the residence.  Posting notices on the door creates privacy concerns.  Sensitive financial information may be on these notices for all the neighbors to see.  Some tenants have told their landlords that they want electronic or email notices instead. 

Some landlords who support this bill would also like to see it go even further by superseding local ordinances that require different service and allowing electronic delivery.

(Opposed) Tenants do not receive a lot of their notices.  Posting notices on the door is not unreasonable.  A post on the door allows transparency and community.  The want for privacy belongs to the rent collectors.  At minimum, the Legislature should require posting plus mailing, or in-person delivery.  

(Other) The MHLTA section does not need changes, but the RLTA section does.  This bill only fixes one part of the problem—rent increase notices.  There are other types of notices that should have the certified mail requirements removed.  To fix this problem, the laws related to service of unlawful detainer notices should be amended and the certified mail requirement be removed. 

(In support) Representative April Connors, prime sponsor; Brett Waller, Weidner Apartment Homes; Nick Streuli, WA Realtors; Joe Levin; Ken Short, AWB; Jake Mayson, Washington Multifamily Housing Association; and Jim Henderson, National Association of Residential Property Managers.