[WSBARP] Is a Landlord Required to Accept Rental Assistance

Wed Jan 11 09:22:13 PST 2023

Thank you Kaitlyn.  What a god awful provision.  Clearly written to defraud landlords and make their lives miserable.  This section has so many mine fields its impossible to  advise landlord’s what to do, except, maybe, bend over and just take it.  

Do you read the latter part of that section to require Landlord’s to apply for rental assistance?  It seems a Court could require it, so given the bent to keep the tenancy, would the landlord be better off being proactive and seek it?  If they get rejected, up front, it may help the UDA.  

I am hating having to go back and explain this section to LL’s who are from other states like Texas, Ohio.  Those clients look at me like I am an idiot when I say you just can’t get them out although they haven’t paid rent, utilities, etc, for over a year and now, at the 12th hour you have to accept the government assistance and allow them to stay.

Where’s the extra strength Advil!

Jeff 

W. Jeff Davis

BELL & DAVIS PLLC

Attorneys at Law
P.O. Box 510

720 E. Washington Street, Suite 105
Sequim WA 98382
Phone: (360) 683.1129 
Fax: (360) 683.1258 
email:  <mailto:jeff at bellanddavispllc.com> jeff at bellanddavispllc.com
 <http://www.bellanddavispllc.com/> www.bellanddavispllc.com

The information contained in this e-mail message may be privileged, confidential, and protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, or copying is strictly prohibited. If you think that you have received this e-mail message in error, please e-mail the sender at  <mailto:info at bellanddavispllc.com> info at bellanddavispllc.com  or call 360.683.1129.

From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Kaitlyn Jackson
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2023 11:37 PM
To: WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: Re: [WSBARP] Is a Landlord Required to Accept Rental Assistance

You should thoroughly review RCW 59.18.410. 

There is state-wide mandatory reinstatement if the tenant (through themselves or any agency) can pay the past due rent in full. A Landlord cannot object based on source of income. 

However, the Landlord does not need to accept the "strings attached" to that income that reduces their rights moving forward. 

But the short answer is that a Landlord no longer has the ability to move forward even after a judgment has been rendered if there's a pledge from an agency to pay the full amount of outstanding rent. 

Sent with  <https://www.rightinbox.com/?utm_source=signature> Right Inbox

On Tue, Jan 10, 2023 at 10:43 AM Paul Neumiller <pneumiller at hotmail.com <mailto:pneumiller at hotmail.com> > wrote:

I don’t know the answer if a LL HAS to accept the money, BUT, on a practical basis, I would not want to stand in front of a judge and try to evict a T when there is free rent money on the table.  So, if there are no other grounds or reasons to evict, I can see where the LL would take the money (that should be a lot of rent to build up a litigation war chest) and then evict when the T fails to pay on the fourth month in the future. 

Be careful if they ask the LL to sign anything.  In Island County, the Opportunity Council will pay forward only 3 months but require the LL to sign an agreement saying the LL will not evict for 6 months (in small print on the back of the form).  I have pointed this out to the Opportunity Council and they quite admit that the LL could be left hanging for 3 months of nonpayment of rent prior to being able to evict if the LL signs the agreement in order to get the money.

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 Jeff at bellanddavispllc.com <mailto:Jeff at bellanddavispllc.com> 
Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2023 9:57 AM
To: 'WSBA Real Property Listserv' <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com <mailto:wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com> >
Subject: [WSBARP] Is a Landlord Required to Accept Rental Assistance

Listmates:

Tenant defaulted in rent payment for over a year, and caused other problems.  All the required notices and a reasonable repayment plan offered.  No response to any of the notices and the dispute resolution certificate issued.  Just as the UDA is to be filed, a rental assistant program offers to pay the back due rent and 3 months forward.  Must the LL accept that offer.  I saw nothing in RCW 59.18.630 or 660 saying the LL shall accept the offer, at this late date.  However I wonder how RCW 59.18.255 plays into this as it talks about cannot refuse to lease based on source of income, which includes housing assistance.  Any one have experience with this?

Jeff Davis

W. Jeff Davis

BELL & DAVIS PLLC

Attorneys at Law
P.O. Box 510

720 E. Washington Street, Suite 105
Sequim WA 98382
Phone: (360) 683.1129 
Fax: (360) 683.1258 
email: jeff at bellanddavispllc.com <mailto:jeff at bellanddavispllc.com> 
 <https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bellanddavispllc.com%2F&data=05%7C01%7C%7C770f8fe780ba48c5122b08daf334b642%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C638089704992575877%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=JyYleDfV2Kyc%2Bj5qobMZZ5USgP1RyjCgGwc6bCbgqD8%3D&reserved=0> www.bellanddavispllc.com

The information contained in this e-mail message may be privileged, confidential, and protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, or copying is strictly prohibited. If you think that you have received this e-mail message in error, please e-mail the sender at  <mailto:info at bellanddavispllc.com> info at bellanddavispllc.com  or call 360.683.1129.

***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

-- 

Thank you,

Kaitlyn R. Jackson, Senior Associate Attorney

Dimension Law Group, PLLC

Office:  206-973-3500│Fax:  206-577-5090

Email: kaitlyn@ <http://dimensionlaw.com/> dimensionlaw.com

www.dimensionlaw.com <http://www.dimensionlaw.com/> 

631 Strander Blvd, Suite G, Tukwila, WA 98188

PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL:  This email (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 email is prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify us by email, facsimile, or telephone; return the email to us at the email address below; and destroy all paper and electronic copies. 

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. 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbarp/attachments/20230111/52663384/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 8028 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbarp/attachments/20230111/52663384/image001.jpg>