[WSBARP] Lease renewal and sale question after R. Thoreson Homes v. Prudhorn

[Roger Hawkes]

Along this same thread: if owner transfers or intends to transfer to an entity owned by the owner does that trigger the allowed ouster based on  intent to sell?  Most folks developing property should do it within a new entity.  Would it make a difference if the new entity was to be owned with someone else?

Roger Hawkes, WSBA 5173
19909 Ballinger Way NE
Shoreline, WA 98155
www.hawkeslawfirm.com<http://www.hawkeslawfirm.com/>
206 367 5000 voice
206 367 4005  fax

From: Marc Holmes [mailto:marc at holmeslawgroup.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2016 1:07 PM
To: 'WSBA Real Property Listserv'
Subject: [WSBARP] Lease renewal and sale question after R. Thoreson Homes v. Prudhorn

I'd like some input on a lease question in light of the recent  R. Thoreson Homes v. Prudhorn case.

Client is about to sell a house in Seattle with a rental ADU.  There's a written lease of the ADU for 1 year and 4 days (presumably the 4 days were simply so the tenants could move in right away and the lease would still run through the last day of the final month).  The lease explicitly states that it terminates at the end of the lease term and would not convert to month to month.  During the final month of the lease the parties exchanged emails whereby the tenants solicited and the landlord offered to renew on "all the same terms" except for a reduction to the parking arrangement.  Tenants replied back that they'd love to stay and "everything you described below sounds fine to us."  The tenants continue paying rent on time and all is well.

The landlord believes this created a new 1 year renewal period but I'm concerned that it's actually a 1 year, 4 day lease since it was for a fixed term.  If so, does the statute of frauds come into play since the "renewal" was only via email and not notarized and render the lease something else.  God forbid it somehow morphs into month to month because the R. Thoreson case then creates a real problem for the prospective buyer who plans to boot the tenants at the end of the current term and re-develop the property.




Marc Holmes
Holmes Law Group PLLC
808 5th Ave N
Seattle WA 98109
HolmesLawGroup.com<http://holmeslawgroup.com/>
marc at holmeslawgroup.com<mailto:marc at holmeslawgroup.com>
Ofc: 206-357-4224
Cell: 206-849-0853

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