Vacating Tenants
RCW requires Tenant/landlord give proper notice to vacate.
Landlord must give proper notice of basis for retention of deposit.
Month to Month (recommended): According to RCW 59.18.20:
“when premises are rented for an indefinite time, with monthly or other periodic rent reserved, such tenancy shall be construed to be a tenancy from month to month, or from period to period on which rent is payable, and shall be terminated by written notice of twenty days or more, preceding the end of any of the months or period of tenancy, given by either party to the other.”
There are exceptions for Armed Forces, and exclusions of children or conversions to condos (see RCW 59.18.200-2). In other words, Tenant’s notice of intent to vacate must be in writing and delivered to the Landlord at least 20 days prior to the last day of the month (if there are 30 days to the month it must be received by the 10th, if there are 31, it must be received by the 11th of the month.
Leases
Leases may be different, check your lease agreement. Sometimes, at the expiration of the lease, the tenant can move without giving a written notice, depending upon what the contract says.
Acknowledgement of Notice
You should acknowledge the notice from the tenant. Send a notice/letter or call them acknowledging your receipt of their notice, and that they will be vacating on the specified date.
Keep copies of all correspondence between you and tenant(s). If you need anything for a future court proceeding, you willhave all documented.
Notice of Basis for Retention of Deposit
RCW 59.18.280 states that “within 14 days after the termination of the rental agreement and vacation of the premises or, if the tenant abandons the premises as defined in RCW 59.18.310 within 14 days after the landlord learns of the abandonment, the landlord shall give a full and specific statement of the basis for retaining any of the deposit together with the payment of any refund due the tenant under the terms and conditions of the rental agreement.”
In order to comply, the landlord must mail the Deposit Accounting form along with receipts or estimates forthe work being charged within the 14 days. It’s better to send it early. If the statement is not sent during this period, RCW 59.18 states that you could be liable for paying the tenant a refund of double the amount of the deposit(s), and if there are damages, you may not collect for them. To prevent possible identity theft, we recommend you mail a cashier’s check to the last known address, to avoid mail theft of your banking information. In 2011 that happened to an Wenatchee member, and a thief created checks and spent money out of the members account.
If the damages and repairs are so many and extensive that you do not have all of the information ready you still need to follow the 14 day rule. Send a letter with the pertinent damages, costs and estimates of costs, or say undetermined for the ones you don’t know about. Provide as much detail of the required repairs as possible. Include the math with the amount tenant owes thus far and state that you will give a full and specific statement when the work has been completed. Make sure that you state that the circumstances (for example, amount of damage, inability to get work scheduled within 14 days, etc.) beyond your control prevented you from providing a complete statement. Do the work in as timely a manner as possible, it must please the court. Make sure that when you send the second notice that you state that it is the second notice.
Beyond normal wear and tear
It’s important to ensure that all of the charges are based upon damages beyond normal wear and tear. Use the Move-In Inspection Report and your photos for documentation. If you don’t have a signed Move- In Inspection you cannot retain any deposits. If there are multiple tenants on the same agreement, the letter and refund has to go to the whole group, not just one. It is their responsibility to figure out how to split any refund or charges.
Chapter 10 – Vacating TenantsPage 1