[WSBARP] Mentally ill tenant damaging property - Moratorium

Tue Dec 22 17:39:02 PST 2020

Jennifer, I agree with your objective. The point of approaching cases like Joshua’s “through the lens of behavioral health” is to set things up for a successful negotiation. You can’t do a business deal until engaging with the tenant in a way they can handle.

Today I finished an early lease termination agreement involving a highly escalated tenant who refuses treatment for her illnesses, which include severe bipolar disorder and Asperger’s syndrome. Success was achieved through a collaboration with family members, friends, and a cooperative landlord. I co-mediated with a female mediator who is a psychiatric nurse. The situation required balance in both gender and skills to cnavigate. We started the day after Thanksgiving, initiating an online process that also included a visit by my co-mediator to the tenant’s home. The Landlord got his space back without litigation and the ill woman is moved into a new home with access to social services.

Roger A. Moss 
Mediation Counsel
Rincon Resolutions LLC
206.790.1971 Seattle
415.371.9724 San Francisco
RinconRes.org

Confidential Correspondence
The information in this e-mail (including attachments, if any) is considered privileged and/or confidential and is intended only for the recipient(s) listed above. Any review, use, disclosure, distribution or copying of this e-mail is prohibited except by or on behalf of the intended recipient. If you have received this email in error, please notify me immediately by reply email, delete this email, and do not disclose its contents to anyone.

> On Dec 22, 2020, at 5:17 PM, Jennifer L White <jen at appletreelaw.com> wrote:
> 
> Hey, rather than the LL going further down the quagmire of this tenant’s mental problems, why doesn’t the LL do the math and offer the tenant some cold hard $$ to leave. You could even sweeten the deal by paying for one month of a storage unit for her stuff and/or paying for a set # of nights at another place, i.e. motel. With the moratorium likely to be extended and all of the other BS that is now required to get them out (and with no prayer of actually getting paid) it may be the less expensive option for the LL in the long run, especially if she runs off other good and paying tenants. She can be someone else’s problem….
>  
> Jennifer L. White, Esq.                             
> <image001.jpg>
>  
> jen at appletreelaw.com <mailto:jen at appletreelaw.com>
> PO Box 11037
> Yakima, WA 98909
> 509.225.9813
>  
> From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <mailto:wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <mailto:wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com>> On Behalf Of scott at scottgthomaslaw.com <mailto:scott at scottgthomaslaw.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2020 4:10 PM
> To: 'WSBA Real Property Listserv' <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com <mailto:wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>>
> Subject: Re: [WSBARP] Mentally ill tenant damaging property - Moratorium
>  
> RCW 49.60.222 and the federal Fair Housing Act (the Washington Law Against Discrimination is interpreted consistently with the FHA).  Consider working with a mental health professional, particularly with regard to requesting a possible accommodation to alleviate the disruptive behavior.  The FHA contemplates that most questions concerning reasonable accommodations and modifications will be resolved through good faith bargaining between the housing provider and the tenant. Adam v. Linn-Benton Housing Authority, 147 F.Supp.2d 1044
> (D.Ore. 2001).
>  
> From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <mailto:wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <mailto:wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com>> On Behalf Of Roger Moss
> Sent: Tuesday, December 22, 2020 1:55 PM
> To: WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com <mailto:wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>>
> Subject: Re: [WSBARP] Mentally ill tenant damaging property - Moratorium
>  
> Joshua,
>  
> You describe conduct that is excepted from the moratorium, and I will let my litigator colleagues speculate on your chances of prevailing in a UD in your jurisdiction.
>  
> In the meantime, you and your client would be well-served to consider other approaches and resources. The situation you describe calls for interdisciplinary intervention. This can be very effective when guided by a properly experienced professional neutral. The work can start online, though in-person support at your client’s property will likely be required.
>  
> As your subject line suggests, your client faces a behavioral health issue more than anything else. Looking at it through the lens of behavioral healthy is essential to obtaining good results.
>  
> Roger A. Moss 
> Mediation Counsel
> Rincon Resolutions LLC
> 206.790.1971 Seattle
> 415.371.9724 San Francisco
> RinconRes.org <http://rinconres.org/>
> 
> Confidential Correspondence
> The information in this e-mail (including attachments, if any) is considered privileged and/or confidential and is intended only for the recipient(s) listed above. Any review, use, disclosure, distribution or copying of this e-mail is prohibited except by or on behalf of the intended recipient. If you have received this email in error, please notify me immediately by reply email, delete this email, and do not disclose its contents to anyone.
> 
>  
> 
> On Dec 22, 2020, at 1:35 PM, Josh Grant <jgrant at accima.com <mailto:jgrant at accima.com>> wrote:
>  
> I have a client with a 8 unit apt. building.Tenant has mental problems.  She tore off the door handle because she thought the landlord had left a virus on it.  Tore off the smoke detectors because she thought they were damaging her and threw them out in the hall.  Has called police 20 or 30 times including that the bare wires from where the smoke detectors used to be were shooting out sparks. 
> A neighbor was accosted verbally because she said he had been in her apt. None of the tenants want to go anywhere near that apt.
>  
> Does Governor’s moratorium stopping u.d. cases apply to property damages?
> Joshua F. Grant
> <advocates[1].png>
> P. O. Box 619
> Wilbur, WA 99185
> 509 647 5578
> ***Disclaimer: Please note that RPPT listserv participation is not restricted to practicing attorneys and may include non-practicing attorneys, law students, professionals working in related fields, and others.***
> 
> _______________________________________________
> WSBARP mailing list
> WSBARP at lists.wsbarppt.com <mailto:WSBARP at lists.wsbarppt.com>
> http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbarp <http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbarp>
>  
> ***Disclaimer: Please note that RPPT listserv participation is not restricted to practicing attorneys and may include non-practicing attorneys, law students, professionals working in related fields, and others.***
> 
> _______________________________________________
> WSBARP mailing list
> WSBARP at lists.wsbarppt.com <mailto:WSBARP at lists.wsbarppt.com>
> http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbarp <http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbarp>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbarp/attachments/20201222/f537a204/attachment.html>