At Helsell Fetterman, we are committed to your cause.
Mike Spence co-chairs the real estate practice group at Helsell Fetterman. A significant part of his practice involves advising buyers, sellers, property owners and brokers all aspects of real estate including waterfront property issues.
On January 17, 2024, the Senate Law and Justice Committee took testimony on SB 5796, a massive 193-page bill which proposes major changes to the law of condominiums, cooperatives and homes governed by a HOA. In a nutshell, this legislation repeals existing condominium and HOA law in favor of the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership […]
On May 8, 2023, Governor Inslee signed HB 1110, commonly known as the “Middle Housing Bill”. The Middle Housing Bill represents the culmination of years of advocacy by groups concerned about the affordability of housing in Washington State, especially the Puget Sound. The Middle Housing Bill strongly encourages “middle housing”, which includes 2 to 6- […]
On October 27, 2022, the Washington Supreme Court pronounced in a 5-4 ruling that the one-year builder warranty was “substantively unconscionable and, therefore, void and unenforceable” because it deprived the home buyer of the 6-year statute of limitations for construction defects contained in RCW 4.16.310[1], benefited the builder, was not set out prominently in the […]
On Tuesday, April 13, 2020, the Seattle City Council passed Council Bill 119766, relating to commercial tenancies involving small businesses or nonprofits. The ordinance would temporarily place a moratorium on rent increases for these tenants and would require landlords to negotiate payment plans for overdue rent. As of this writing (April 16, 2020 ), the […]
The COVID-19 pandemic and Governor Inslee’s “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order have stopped your real estate transaction dead in its tracks. The earnest money is in escrow, but Washington is shut down for all but “essential services”, which does not include real estate at this time. What are your options? If your transaction involves Northwest […]
We know everyone is feeling unease about the current state of the world and there is a lot of information about the Covid-19 pandemic and the measures federal, local and state governments are taking to mitigate the economic impact. To help you understand the effects on the real estate markets, we offer the following information: […]
Washington’s Seller Disclosure Statute, RCW 64.06, originally passed in 1994, required Sellers of real property to disclose “material defects” on a Seller Disclosure Statement, which quickly became known as a “Form 17”. A special provision of RCW 64.06 provides that the statutory obligation to disclose material defects is independent of the common law principle of […]
On May 14, 2019, Governor Inslee signed SB 5600, a bill that dramatically alters the landscape of Washington residential landlord-tenant law. The effective date of this legislation is July 27, 2019. SB 5600 does not apply to commercial real estate. Residential landlords and property managers need to be well-versed in these changes, which are as […]
The Washington State Pollution Liability Insurance Agency (PLIA) has just announced a new revolving loan and grant program under which low interest loans of up to $2 million are available to install, retrofit, close or clean up underground storage tanks (UST’s) on contaminated commercial properties. The grant or loan can be used on any site […]
On April 4, 2016, Division I of the Washington Court of Appeals declared that a landowner may remove tree roots that encroach onto his or her property – even if it severely damages, or possibly even kills, the tree. This decision is surprising on a number of levels. The case is known as Mustoe v. […]