Tenants in Pierce County who make below 80% of the area median income, or an income of less than $48,450 for one, are eligible for rental and utility assistance.

Tenants can apply for up to 12 months of back rent, for as far back as March 2020.  Per Pierce County Human Services, the utility assistance includes internet service.

Pierce County received nearly $58.6 million in rental and utility assistance this month.  Landlords can preemptively set up an account and let the county know which tenants have not paid rent.  The director of human services said that landlords can let them know which tenants are behind and begin the application process.  The county will then contact the tenants.

The link to apply is here: https://www.piercecountywa.gov/7142/Rental-Assistance

We are here to help you and your clients with all aspects of the rental market. Please contact us for further assistance!

Nothing found herein should be construed as an attempt to offer or render a legal opinion or otherwise engage in the practice of law. You should not rely solely on this information. We encourage our clients to work with a lawyer experienced in commercial and/or residential real estate matters as they can be complicated and confusing.

Both Seattle’s and the State of Washington eviction moratorium have been extended to June 30, 2021. The terms of each remain the same.

Tenants cannot be evicted for non-payment of rent, but rent does continue accruing.  They also cannot be evicted for violations of the lease.  Per the state moratorium, landlords can give a 60-day notice to vacate if the owner wants to sell or move into the property.  The date of termination must be the last day of the second full rental period (not just 60 calendar days).

Seattle’s eviction moratorium does not allow landlords to give notice to vacate because the owner wants to sell or move into the rental as their primary residence.  The only exception is if the notice is, “due to actions by the tenant constituting an imminent threat to the health and safety of neighbors, the landlord, or the tenant’s or landlord’s household members.” 

In Federal Way, landlords must give a 120-day notice if the reason for the notice is that the owner wants to sell.

We are here to help you and your clients with all aspects of the rental market. Please contact us for further assistance!

Nothing found herein should be construed as an attempt to offer or render a legal opinion or otherwise engage in the practice of law. You should not rely solely on this information. We encourage our clients to work with a lawyer experienced in commercial and/or residential real estate matters as they can be complicated and confusing.

State-wide, tenants cannot be evicted for non-payment of rent, but rent does continue accruing. Tenants also cannot be evicted for violations of the lease.  Per the state moratorium, landlords can give a 60-day notice to vacate if the owner wants to sell or move into the property. The date of termination must be the last day of the second full rental period (not just 60 calendar days).

The governor’s proclamation includes a requirement that the notice to vacate include an affidavit with a notarized statement by the owner attesting that the reason for the notice is selling.  There are also very specific rules about serving the notice – who receives it, how many copies and how it is delivered.

Seattle’s eviction moratorium does not allow landlords to give notice to vacate because the owner wants to sell or move into the rental as their primary residence.  The Seattle eviction moratorium bans all evictions; the only exception is if the notice is, “due to actions by the tenant constituting an imminent threat to the health and safety of neighbors, the landlord, or the tenant’s or landlord’s household members.”

Both eviction moratoriums, state, and Seattle’s, are in force through March 31, but we expect it to be extended again.

We are here to help you and your clients with all aspects of the rental market. Please contact us for further assistance!

Nothing found herein should be construed as an attempt to offer or render a legal opinion or otherwise engage in the practice of law. You should not rely solely on this information. We encourage our clients to work with a lawyer experienced in commercial and/or residential real estate matters as they can be complicated and confusing.

The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to harass persons because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin?  Recent changes, including a lawsuit and executive order, resulted in a HUD memo on February 11^th defining discrimination on the basis of sex to extend to and include discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

This is likely to result in additional Fair Housing testing.  HUD has ordered that effective immediately, “HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) shall accept for filing and investigate all complaints of sex discrimination, including discrimination because of gender identity or sexual orientation.” This shouldn’t be an issue for landlords and property managers in Washington state as marital status, sexual orientation and gender identity are already protected.

We are here to help you and your clients with all aspects of the rental market. Please contact us for further assistance!

Nothing found herein should be construed as an attempt to offer or render a legal opinion or otherwise engage in the practice of law. You should not rely solely on this information. We encourage our clients to work with a lawyer experienced in commercial and/or residential real estate matters as they can be complicated and confusing.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warns tenants to avoid scammers offering to make rental payments.  The FTC reports an increase of scams involving tenants in distress during the pandemic.  Scammers may offer assistance with rent payments or legal aid to avoid eviction.

Requiring tenants to pay money or provide personal information before assistance can be given is, according to the FCC, “a dead giveaways that it’s a scam.”  In addition, they recommend:

•         Never give your Social Security, bank account, credit card, or debit card number to anyone who contacts you. And even if you’re the one reaching out, do your research on the organization first, before you share your info.

•         If you look online for help with your rent, search for the name of the groups you find, plus the words “scam,” “fraud,” or “complaint,” to see what others are saying. Do that before you contact them.

•         If you spot a rental assistance scam like this, please tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

We are here to help you and your clients with all aspects of the rental market. Please contact us for further assistance!

Nothing found herein should be construed as an attempt to offer or render a legal opinion or otherwise engage in the practice of law. You should not rely solely on this information. We encourage our clients to work with a lawyer experienced in commercial and/or residential real estate matters as they can be complicated and confusing.

• Chelan / Douglas: http://www.cdcac.org/erap–eviction-rental-assistance-program.html
• Clallam: https://www.serenityhouseclallam.org/erap
• Clark: https://www.councilforthehomeless.org/erap/
• Cowlitz: https://www.lowercolumbiacap.org
• Grant / Adams: view form
• Kitsap: https://www.housingkitsap.org/erap-rental-assistance
• Kittitas: https://www.hopesource.us/housing.php
• Pacific: https://co.pacific.wa.us/covid-19/ERAP/index.html
• Pierce: https://www.piercecountywa.gov/housinghelp
• Steven /Lincoln / Ferry: contact
• Thurston: https://caclmt.org
• Whatcom: https://www.oppco.org

King County has additional conditions the landlord must agree to in order to accept the subsidy. The landlord must agree to the conditions as follows:

• Accept up to six months of rental assistance on behalf of the participating tenant at the lesser of either (a) 80 percent of the otherwise applicable total rent for three months; or (b) fair market rent for the three months.
• Any rental debt owed by the tenant for more than three months must be forgiven. If rental debt is less than three months, assistance may be paid for past due and future rent up to three months not to extend beyond December 2020.
• Not terminate or refuse to renew the participating tenant’s tenancy, absent good cause, until March 31, 2021.
• Not raise rent on current tenant(s) served by this program until March 31, 2021.

https://kingcounty.gov/depts/community-human-services/COVID/eviction-prevention-rent-assistance.aspx

We are here to help you and your clients with all aspects of the rental market. Please contact us for further assistance!

Nothing found herein should be construed as an attempt to offer or render a legal opinion or otherwise engage in the practice of law. You should not rely solely on this information. We encourage our clients to work with a lawyer experienced in commercial and/or residential real estate matters as they can be complicated and confusing.

The Washington State legislature is considering a bill, SB 5160, that would extend the governor’s eviction ban for two years. 

The bill would prohibit landlords from terminating or refusing to renew a rental agreement for two years after expiration of any public health emergency.  This would apply to both leases at the end of the term and month-to-month rental agreements unless the owner wanted to sell, would personally occupy the property or if the tenant and landlord resided in the same dwelling unit.

The following clauses are some of those that, if passed, would be in force between March 1, 2020 and the expiration of the final Governor’s Eviction Moratorium.

• Presumes any “no cause” termination notice issued to a tenant for any unpaid rent that accrued during this period to be a reprisal or retaliatory action
• Prohibits landlords from denying tenancy based on unpaid rent or late rent payments that accrued while the moratoriums are in effect.
• Authorizes tenants adversely impacted by COVID-19 to terminate their tenancy with a 20-day written notice.
• Penalizes landlords up to four and one-half times monthly rent with court costs and attorneys’ fees for violations. 
• With limitations, authorizes landlords to pursue an eviction action if the tenant knowingly refuses a “reasonable” offer of a repayment plan, fails to respond to an offer, or defaults on an agreed to repayment plan.

We are here to help you and your clients with all aspects of the rental market. Please contact us for further assistance!

Nothing found herein should be construed as an attempt to offer or render a legal opinion or otherwise engage in the practice of law. You should not rely solely on this information. We encourage our clients to work with a lawyer experienced in commercial and/or residential real estate matters as they can be complicated and confusing.

That Federal law requires that all information acquired during the tenant screening process be properly disposed of within an appropriate time frame, in order to better protect sensitive information?  Since 2005 the Fair Credit Reporting Act has required that all information such as credit history, social security numbers, addresses, and credit card numbers be kept only as long as needed and then properly disposed or deleted. Paper copies must be shredded before disposal. Anyone who receives a copy of a consumer report is responsible for protecting that data.

We are here to help you and your clients with all aspects of the rental market. Please contact us for further assistance!

Nothing found herein should be construed as an attempt to offer or render a legal opinion or otherwise engage in the practice of law. You should not rely solely on this information. We encourage our clients to work with a lawyer experienced in commercial and/or residential real estate matters as they can be complicated and confusing.

Governor Inslee announced that the state eviction moratorium is extended to March 31, 2021.  That corresponds with the date the Seattle Eviction moratorium is set to expire.  We do not yet know if the terms of the proclamation will be modified. 

Tenants cannot be evicted for non-payment of rent, but rent does continue accruing.  They also cannot be evicted for violations of the lease.  Per the state moratorium, landlords can give a 60-day notice to vacate if the owner wants to sell or move into the property.  The date of termination must be the last day of the second full rental period (not just 60 calendar days).

Seattle’s eviction moratorium was also extended to March 31, 2021, BUT does not allow landlords to give notice to vacate because the owner wants to sell or move into the rental as their primary residence.  The Seattle eviction moratorium bans all evictions:

“A residential landlord shall not initiate an unlawful detainer action, issue a notice of termination, or otherwise act on a termination notice, including any action or notice related to a rental agreement that has expired or will expire during the effective date of this Emergency Order.”

The only exception is if the notice is, “due to actions by the tenant constituting an imminent threat to the health and safety of neighbors, the landlord, or the tenant’s or landlord’s household members.”  This also varies from the state moratorium, which, in addition to threats to person safety, also allows for termination of a lease in the case of signification and immediate risk to the property of others.

We are here to help you and your clients with all aspects of the rental market. Please contact us for further assistance!

Nothing found herein should be construed as an attempt to offer or render a legal opinion or otherwise engage in the practice of law. You should not rely solely on this information. We encourage our clients to work with a lawyer experienced in commercial and/or residential real estate matters as they can be complicated and confusing.