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IntroductionThe recent Court of Appeals decision in Princeton Prop. Mgmt., Inc. v. Allen seeks to strike a balance between the enforcement of settlement agreements in unlawful detainer actions and the protection of tenant rights under the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act (RLTA). Landlords and tenants alike must navigate these legal waters carefully. But in an age of […]
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 October 14, 2020, Governor Inslee issued Proclamation 20-19.4 that extended and revised the scope of the state-wide eviction moratorium contained in Proclamations 20-19, 20-19.1, 20-19.2 and 20-19.3. The moratorium had been set to expire on October 15, 2020. The following is a summary of the provisions of the moratorium as now contained in Proclamation […]
CDC’s Nationwide Residential Eviction Order On September 2, 2020, the United States Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) issued a nationwide moratorium on residential evictions until December 31, 2020 (the “Order”). The purpose of the moratorium (and the legal basis for the CDC’s adoption of the Order) is to protect public health by preventing evictions that […]
On Friday, April 24, 2020, Governor Inslee announced that construction projects that have been suspended under his Stay Home, Stay Safe order would be allowed to proceed subject to compliance with a set of safety requirements intended to prevent the spread and resurgence of the coronavirus. The addendum to the order implements the first of […]
This week the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of Seattle’s First-in-Time ordinance. The First in Time ordinance – believed to be the first in the country – was passed by Seattle City Council in 2016. After initially being declared unconstitutional by King County Superior Court Judge Suzanne Parisien, it was appealed directly […]
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 […]
Washington allows real estate documents to be executed by e-signatures rather than wet-ink signatures. However, many real estate related documents require notarization. The ability of individuals to properly execute deeds, deeds of trust, long-term leases, easements, covenants and other real estate documents requiring notarizing, has become increasingly difficult under the COVID-19 social distancing orders and […]