H-0150.1  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 1418

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      56th Legislature     1999 Regular Session

By Representatives Kastama, Hurst, Stensen, McDonald, Conway and Lantz

Read first time 01/25/1999.  Referred to Committee on Economic Development, Housing & Trade.

Requiring landlords to provide tenants with an informational brochure.

    AN ACT Relating to duties of a landlord; and amending RCW 59.20.130.

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

    Sec. 1.  RCW 59.20.130 and 1993 c 66 s 20 are each amended to read as follows:

    It shall be the duty of the landlord to:

    (1) Comply with codes, statutes, ordinances, and administrative rules applicable to the mobile home park;

    (2) Maintain the common premises and prevent the accumulation of stagnant water and to prevent the detrimental effects of moving water when such condition is not the fault of the tenant;

    (3) Keep any shared or common premises reasonably clean, sanitary, and safe from defects to reduce the hazards of fire or accident;

    (4) Keep all common premises of the mobile home park, not in the possession of tenants, free of weeds or plant growth noxious and detrimental to the health of the tenants and free from potentially injurious or unsightly objects and condition;

    (5) Exterminate or make a reasonable effort to exterminate rodents, vermin, or other pests dangerous to the health and safety of the tenant whenever infestation exists on the common premises or whenever infestation occurs in the interior of a mobile home as a result of infestation existing on the common premises;

    (6) Maintain and protect all utilities provided to the mobile home in good working condition.  Maintenance responsibility shall be determined at that point where the normal mobile home utilities "hook-ups" connect to those provided by the landlord or utility company;

    (7) Respect the privacy of the tenants and shall have no right of entry to a mobile home without the prior written consent of the occupant, except in case of emergency or when the occupant has abandoned the mobile home.  Such consent may be revoked in writing by the occupant at any time.  The ownership or management shall have a right of entry upon the land upon which a mobile home is situated for maintenance of utilities, to insure compliance with applicable codes, statutes, ordinances, administrative rules, and the rental agreement and the rules of the park, and protection of the mobile home park at any reasonable time or in an emergency, but not in a manner or at a time which would interfere with the occupant's quiet enjoyment;

    (8) Allow tenants freedom of choice in the purchase of goods and services, and not unreasonably restrict access to the mobile home park for such purposes;

    (9) Maintain roads within the mobile home park in good condition; ((and))

    (10) Notify each tenant within five days after a petition has been filed by the landlord for a change in the zoning of the land where the mobile home park is located and make a description of the change available to the tenant; and

(11) Provide tenants with a brochure that explains the tenant's rights and responsibilities under this chapter.  This brochure must be made available to the tenant at the time the lease or rental agreement is signed.

    A landlord shall not have a duty to repair a defective condition under this section, nor shall any defense or remedy be available to the tenant under this chapter, if the defective condition complained of was caused by the conduct of the tenant, the tenant's family, invitee, or other person acting under the tenant's control, or if a tenant unreasonably fails to allow the landlord access to the property for purposes of repair.

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