[WSBARP] Terminating a Church "tenancy"

Thu Jul 2 14:25:46 PDT 2020

Kaitlyn, there are many professional (non and for-profit) operators of SLEs out there. Perhaps clients should sell to one of them. Also, if by any chance the church used a proper SLE lease, which in some jurisdictions explicitly exempts the arrangement from the landlord-tenant statute, there may be an opening there. 

Roger A. Moss, Esq.
Pacific Conflict Intervention
206.790.1971 Seattle
415.371.9724 San Francisco
www.pacific-ci.com

Confidentiality Notice:
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 Jul 2, 2020, at 1:15 PM, Inge Fordham <inge at fordhamlegal.com> wrote:
> 
> Kaitlyn,
>  
> I agree with your analysis.  The proclamation prohibits actions requiring a resident or tenant to vacate, seeking to enforce or threatening to seek or enforce any such action, increasing rent, charging late fees, retaliating against tenants, etc.  As I read the proclamation, it does not prohibit renegotiating the terms of the lease (provided the rate of rent remains the same and there are no penalties being assessed for nonpayment of rent or late rent), or even terminating a lease (absent eviction) and entering into a new lease.  
>  
> My sense is that your client could terminate the lease with the church (because no one is being evicted) and enter into separate lease agreements with the tenants or hire a property manager (which is essentially the role the church is currently playing).  I’m not sure the church has any legal basis to fight the termination of the lease under the circumstances as you described them below, provided no tenants are being evicted and you follow the termination provisions of the lease. 
>  
> Best regards,
>  
>  
> <image001.png>
> Inge A. Fordham | Attorney
> Fordham Law, PLLC
> 3218 Sixth Avenue | Tacoma, WA 98406
> Office: (253) 348-2657 | Mobile: (206) 778-3131
> www.fordhamlegal.com <http://www.fordhamlegal.com/>
>  
> Confidential Communication: This email is sent to a recipient on behalf of an attorney/law firm, and is information intended exclusively for the individual, entity or company to which it is sent.  This communication may contain proprietary, privileged or confidential information or may otherwise be legally exempt from disclosure other than to the intended recipient.  If you are not the named addressee, you are not authorized to read, print, retain, copy or otherwise disseminate this message or any part of it.  If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately by email or other communication and delete all copies of the message.
>  
> From: <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <mailto:wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com>> on behalf of Kaitlyn Jackson <kaitlyn at dimensionlaw.com <mailto:kaitlyn at dimensionlaw.com>>
> Reply-To: WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com <mailto:wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>>
> Date: Thursday, July 2, 2020 at 12:13 PM
> To: WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com <mailto:wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>>
> Subject: [WSBARP] Terminating a Church "tenancy"
>  
> I have a really tricky one that I think may require a creative solution. 
>  
> Original owners of a residential property entered into a "Residential Lease Agreement" with a church that has long since expired and moved to month-to-month. The Agreement allows the Church to rent the property to up to 10 individuals as clean and sober housing. The original owners have died and their children are now the owners or the property. The Church still pays the rent but the new owners don't like the way the property is being managed and want to terminate their agreement with the Church but KEEP all the "subtenants" living there. The pastors of the church do not live on the property. No one from the Church does. One of the pastors has disappeared and is suspected to be in prison because he was allegedly selling drugs to the clean and sober tenants. The new owners have spoken to the remaining pastor about terminating the lease agreement but that pastor cited Proclamation 20-19.2. I'm not sure but I think Proclamation 20-19.2 may only protect terminating tenancy "requiring a resident to vacate." I don't think the termination of this particular type of arrangement requires a "resident" to vacate since the new owners don't want any of the residents to vacate but to terminate the contract with the Church. 
>  
> My instinct here is to just write a letter and offer a resolution to buy out the Church. But if the pastor won't agree - I wonder if there's a more creative solution. 
>  
> -- 
> Thank you,
> 
> Kaitlyn R. Jackson | Attorney| DIMENSION LAW GROUP PLLC 
> 130 Andover Park East, Suite 300 | Tukwila, WA 98188
> t: 206.973.3500 | f: 206.577.5090| e: kaitlyn at dimensionlaw.com <mailto:kaitlyn at dimensionlaw.com>| www.dimensionlaw.com <http://www.dimensionlaw.com/>
>  
> Covid-19 Update - Dimension Law Group remains available to serve our clients and the public during this time, subject to the orders and recommendations of government authority. 
> All attorneys and staff are working remotely regular business hours and are available via email and by phone. Videoconferencing also is available. We will continue to advise and support our clients throughout this health emergency.
> 
> PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL:  This e-mail (including any attachments) is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible to deliver it to the intended recipient, you are notified that any review, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is prohibited. Attempts to intercept this message are in violation of 18 USC 2511(1) of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which subjects the interceptor to fines, imprisonment and/or civil damages. If you have received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify us by e-mail, facsimile, or telephone; return the e-mail to us at the e-mail address below; and destroy all paper and electronic copies. Any settlement offer contained herein is made pursuant to Washington ER 408, and without admitting fault or liability on the part of this firm’s client(s) or its agents.  IRS CIRCULAR 230 DISCLAIMER:  To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, I inform you that any U.S. tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code; or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or tax-related matter addressed herein. 
> 
> ***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/20200702/93cac5ce/attachment.html>