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--></style></head><body lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#44546a">I have a similar fact pattern representing the commercial tenant. Here is a brief excerpt of a response to landlord’s counsel.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#44546a"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#44546a">Rob Rowley</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#44546a">Spokane</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#44546a"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#44546a">______</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#44546a"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In <u>Firth v. Lu</u>, 103 Wn.App. 267, 12 P.3d 618 (2000), the Court held special statute of frauds relating to real property provides that every "conveyance of real estate, or any interest therein, and every contract creating or evidencing any encumbrance upon real estate, shall be by deed...." RCW 64.04.010. Our courts have repeatedly held that "in order to comply with the statute of frauds, a contract or deed for the conveyance of land must contain a description of the land sufficiently definite to locate it without recourse to oral testimony." <u>Martinson v. Cruikshank</u>, 3 Wn.2d 565, 567, 101 P.2d 604, (1940). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In <u>Martin v. Seigel</u>, 35 Wn.2d 223, 212 P.2d 107 (1949), the Washington Supreme Court clarified the requirements of the statute: "In the interests of continuity and clarity of the law of this state with respect to legal descriptions, we hereby hold that every contract or agreement involving a sale or conveyance of platted real property must contain, in addition to the other requirements of the statute of frauds, the description of such property by the correct lot number(s), block number, addition, city, county, and state." <u>Id</u> at 229; <u>Key Design Inc. v. Moser</u>, 138 Wn.2d 875, 983 P.2d 653 (1999). <u>Pardee v. Jolly</u>, 182 P.3d 967 (2008); <u>Powers v. Hastings</u>, 93 Wash.2d 709, 711 n. 1, 612 P.2d 371 (1980) (noting that a three year lease with an option to purchase real property falls within either the statute of frauds for contracts over one year or the real estate statute); <u>Woolen v. Sloan</u>, 94 Wash. 551, 553, 162 P.985 (1917) ("[t]he option contract, being for real estate, of course was required by the statute of frauds to be in writing"); <u>Broadway Hosp. & Sanitarium v. Decker</u>, 47 Wash. 586, 589-90, 92 P.445 (1907) (applying the statute of frauds to a lease with an option to purchase property).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:#44546a"> </span></p><div><div style="border:none;border-top:solid #e1e1e1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in"><p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> <a href="mailto:wsbarp-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbarp-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com</a> <<a href="mailto:wsbarp-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbarp-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com</a>> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Marcus Fry<br><b>Sent:</b> Thursday, December 27, 2018 1:15 PM<br><b>To:</b> WSBA Real Property Listserv <<a href="mailto:wsbarp@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbarp@lists.wsbarppt.com</a>><br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [WSBARP] Commercial Lease without legal description</p></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div><p class="MsoNormal">Kaitlyn,</p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">I am on holiday so sorry for the brevity, but you should be researching cases of part performance and statute of fraud cases. </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Best,</p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Marcus</p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div id="composer_signature"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;color:#364f67">Sent from my Samsung device</span></p></div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><br><br>-------- Original message --------<br>From: Kaitlyn Jackson <<a href="mailto:kaitlyn@dimensionlaw.com">kaitlyn@dimensionlaw.com</a>> <br>Date: 12/27/18 2:00 PM (GMT-07:00) <br>To: WSBA Real Property Listserv <<a href="mailto:wsbarp@lists.wsbarppt.com">wsbarp@lists.wsbarppt.com</a>> <br>Subject: [WSBARP] Commercial Lease without legal description </p><div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Hi all - </p><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">I have a PC with a commercial lease lease for a retail store that is for 10 years beginning in 2016. It is notarized by both parties. All normal contract terms are present. However, it does not have a valid legal description - it only has the address and suite number of the leased premises. </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Landlord sold the property and the new owner is trying to terminate the lease (no information or notice of valid reasons to terminate other than "I'm the new owner and I want you out"). Tenant pays on time and is in compliance with all lease terms. </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">My only concern here is the lack of legal description. I can't seem to find the specific RCW or case law that requires a legal description under these circumstances. All the case law I've seen has to do with leases that also contain option to purchase agreements; and, as such, require a valid legal description due to the presence of an option to purchase. I couldn't find any case law that specifically stated the lease is only valid if there is a legal description for just a regular commercial lease of a suite in a building. </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">I'm also hoping that in the presence of a notarized lease that was drafted by the landlord, that the lack of a legal description will not give the landlord the right to terminate since the landlord drafted the document. </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">Any help or advise is much appreciated. <br clear="all"></p><div><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div><p class="MsoNormal">-- </p><div><div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666">Thank you,</span><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#222222"></span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white"><br></span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white">K</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white">aitlyn</span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white"> </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white">R. J</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white">ackson</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white"> |</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#888888;background:white"> </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white">A</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white">ttorney</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white">| </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white">D</span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white">IMENSION</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white"> </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white">L</span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#888888;background:white">AW</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white"> </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white">G</span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#888888;background:white">ROUP</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white"> </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#888888;background:white">P</span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#666666;background:white">LLC </span><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#222222"><br></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#666666;background:white">130 Andover Park East, Suite 300 | Tukwila, WA 98188</span> </p><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#3d85c6">t: <u>206.973.3500 </u>| f: <u>206.577.5090</u>| e: <u><a href="mailto:kaitlyn@dimensionlaw.com|">kaitlyn@dimensionlaw.com|</a></u></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#888888"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;font-variant:small-caps;color:#3d85c6"><a href="http://www.dimensionlaw.com/" target="_blank">www.dimensionlaw.com</a></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#888888"></span></p></div></div></div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"><br><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#3d85c6;background:white">PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL:</span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:#0b5394;background:white"> </span><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif;color:gray;background:white">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. 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