[WSBARP] lease

[Brian Ragen]

Listmates, I represent the tenant in a commercial lease. Please assume the
following: (1) The lease term exceeds two years, and therefore the lease
should have been recorded per RCW 65.08.060. (2) The lease was not
recorded. (3) Tenant moved out, but has continued to pay the rent. (4)
Landlord sells the property, but does not inform buyer of the lease. The
Stat. Wty. Deed does not refer to the lease, whether in the subject to
clause or elsewhere. (5) The buyer had no notice otherwise of the lease.
[As of now, this assumption is merely that; I do not yet know whether the
buyer did in fact lack such notice, whether actual or constructive.] (6)
Now, roughly 3 months after taking title to the property, the new owner is
demanding payment on the lease. Question: Assuming the above is correct,
did the sale of the property terminate the lease? I have found no (WA)
case on point. WA Practice says that the lease would be “cut off.” The
WSBA Real Property Deskbook says that “the purchaser might take free of
the lease if it was not recorded.” Given that my client moved out of the
property some time ago, my client would of course prefer to make no more
payments on the lease.

 

Brian Ragen, Atty


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