[WSBARP] RCW 59.12.030 - Commercial Lease Termination - New Supreme Court Opinion

[Rob Rowley]

MONTOYA-LEWIS,  J.—Under RCW  59.12.030(1),  a  tenant  who  leases premises
for a specified term  or  period becomes  a holdover tenant  liable  for
unlawful detainer  when they remain in possession  of  the  premises  “after
the expiration of the term  for  which it  is  let  to him  or her.” The
question before  the  court  is whether  a tenant  in  a  fixed-term
commercial  lease  can become a holdover tenant  when the tenancy ends
pursuant  to an early termination provision.  The  tenant  argues  that
this unlawful  detainer provision applies only when the tenant  remains
after the  end of the  original term  specified  in  the  lease.  We
disagree.  We  hold that  in  this  case, exercising the  no-fault  early
termination provision  in the  lease  revised  the  term  of Spokane
Airport  Bd. v. Experimental  Aircraft  Ass’n Ch. 79 No. 99180-4 the  lease,
and  the  term  expired  on  the  revised  termination  date.  Therefore,
the  tenant became  a holdover  tenant  under RCW  59.12.030(1) when they
continued  in possession  of  the  leased  premises  after  that  date.
Accordingly,  we  reverse.


Sep. 30, 2021 - 99180-4 - Spokane Airport Bd. v. Experimental Aircraft
Ass'n, Chapter 79
https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/?fa=opinions.disp&filename=991804MAJ