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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>I’d like some input on a lease question in light of the recent <i>R. Thoreson Homes v. Prudhorn</i> case.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Client is about to sell a house in Seattle with a rental ADU. There’s a written lease of the ADU for 1 year and 4 days (presumably the 4 days were simply so the tenants could move in right away and the lease would still run through the last day of the final month). The lease explicitly states that it terminates at the end of the lease term and would not convert to month to month. During the final month of the lease the parties exchanged emails whereby the tenants solicited and the landlord offered to renew on “all the same terms” except for a reduction to the parking arrangement. Tenants replied back that they’d love to stay and “everything you described below sounds fine to us.” The tenants continue paying rent on time and all is well. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>The landlord believes this created a new 1 year renewal period but I’m concerned that it’s actually a 1 year, 4 day lease since it was for a fixed term. If so, does the statute of frauds come into play since the “renewal” was only via email and not notarized and render the lease something else. God forbid it somehow morphs into month to month because the <i>R. Thoreson</i> case then creates a real problem for the prospective buyer who plans to boot the tenants at the end of the current term and re-develop the property.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Marc Holmes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Holmes Law Group PLLC<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>808 5th Ave N<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Seattle WA 98109<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><a href="http://holmeslawgroup.com/"><span style='color:blue'>HolmesLawGroup.com</span></a><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><a href="mailto:marc@holmeslawgroup.com"><span style='color:blue'>marc@holmeslawgroup.com</span></a><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Ofc: 206-357-4224<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>Cell: 206-849-0853<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>