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Information for Tenants Page 13 of 15 <br />EVICTIONS <br />For not paying rent. If the tenant is even one day <br />behind in rent, the landlord can issue a three-day <br />notice to pay or move out. If the tenant pays all the rent <br />due within three days, the landlord must accept it and <br />cannot evict the tenant. A landlord is not required to <br />accept a partial payment. <br />For not complying with the terms of the rental <br />agreement. If the tenant is not complying with the <br />rental agreement (for example, keeping a cat when the <br />agreement specifies no pets are allowed), the landlord <br />can give a 10-day notice to comply or move out. If the <br />tenant satisfactorily remedies the situation within that <br />time, the landlord cannot continue the eviction process. <br />For creating a “waste or nuisance.” If a tenant <br />destroys the landlord’s property, uses the premises for <br />unlawful activity including gang- or drug-related activi- <br />ties, damages the value of the property or interferes <br />with other tenant’s use of the property, the landlord <br />can issue a three-day notice to move out. The tenant <br />must move out after this kind of notice. There is no <br />option to stay and correct the problem. <br />For violations within drug and alcohol free housing. <br />If a tenant enrolled in a program of recovery in drug <br />and alcohol free housing for less than two years uses, <br />possesses, or shares alcohol or drugs the landlord can <br />give a three-day notice to move out. If the tenant cures <br />the violation within one day, the rental agreement does <br />not terminate. If the tenant fails to remedy the violation <br />within one day, he or she must move out and the rental <br />agreement is terminated. If the tenant engages in <br />substantially the same behavior within six months, the <br />landlord can give a three-day notice to move out and <br />the tenant has no right to cure the subsequent violation. <br />Notice. In order for a landlord to take legal action <br />against a tenant who does not move out, notice must <br />be given in accordance with RCW 59.12.040. <br />If the tenant continues to occupy the rental in violation <br />of a notice to leave, the landlord must then go to court <br />to begin what is called an “unlawful detainer” action. <br />If the court rules in favor of the landlord, the sheriff will <br />be instructed to move the tenant out of the rental if the <br />tenant does not leave voluntarily. The only legal way <br />for a landlord to move a tenant physically out of a unit <br />is by going through the courts and the sheriff’s office. <br />DESIGNATION OF AN INDIVIDUAL TO ACT ON <br />BEHALF OF A TENANT UPON THE DEATH OF <br />THE TENANT (RCW 59.18.590) <br />A tenant who is the sole occupant of a dwelling unit <br />can designate a person to act on the tenant’s behalf <br />upon the death of the tenant independently or at the <br />request of a landlord. The designation must be in <br />writing separate from any rental agreement. It must <br />include the designated person’s name, mailing ad- <br />dress, an address used for the receipt of electronic <br />communications, a telephone number, and a signed <br />statement authorizing the landlord in the event of the <br />tenant’s death (when the tenant is the sole occupant <br />of the dwelling unit) to allow the designated person to <br />access the tenant’s dwelling unit, remove the tenant’s <br />property, receive refunds of amounts due to the ten- <br />ant, and to dispose of the tenant’s property consistent <br />with the tenant’s last will and testament and any ap- <br />plicable intestate succession law, and a conspicuous <br />statement that the designation remain in effect until it <br />is revoked in writing by the tenant or replaced with a <br />new designation. The designated person’s right to <br />act on the behalf of the deceased tenant terminates <br />upon the appointment of a personal representative for <br />the deceased tenant’s estate or the identification of a <br />person reasonably claiming to be a successor of the <br />deceased tenant pursuant to law. <br />ABANDONMENT RELATED TO FAILURE TO <br />PAY RENT [RCW 59.18.310] <br />Abandonment occurs when a tenant has both fallen <br />behind in rent and has clearly indicated by words or <br />actions an intention not to continue living in the rental. <br />When a rental has been abandoned, the landlord may <br />enter the unit and remove any abandoned property. <br />It must be stored in a reasonably secure place. A <br />notice must be mailed to the tenant saying where the <br />property is being stored and when it will be sold. If <br />the landlord does not have a new address for the ten- <br />ant, the notice should be mailed to the rental address, <br />so it can be forwarded by the U.S. Postal Service. <br />How long a landlord must wait before selling aban- <br />doned property depends on the value of the goods. If <br />the total value of property is less than $250, the land- <br />lord must mail a notice of the sale to the tenant and <br />then wait seven(7) days. Family pictures, keepsakes <br />and personal papers cannot be sold until forty-five <br />(45) days after the landlord mails the notice of aban- <br />donment to the tenant. <br />If the total value of the property is more than $250, the <br />landlord must mail a notice of the sale to the tenant <br />and then wait forty-five (45) days. Personal papers, <br />family pictures, and keepsakes can be sold at the <br />same time as other property. <br />The money raised by the sale of the property goes to <br />cover money owed to the landlord, such as back rent <br />and the cost of storing and selling the goods. If there <br />is any money left over, the landlord must keep it for <br />the tenant for one (1) year. If it is not claimed within <br />that time, it belongs to the landlord. <br />If a landlord takes a tenant’s property and a court later <br />determines there had not actually been an abandon-