[WSBARP] RCW 59.12.030 - Commercial Lease Termination - New Supreme Court Opinion
Rob Rowley
rob at rowleylegal.com
Thu Sep 30 08:38:01 PDT 2021
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
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