5.23.070 Just cause eviction | Auburn City Code

5.23.070 Just cause eviction.

A. Pursuant to provisions of the Washington State Residential Landlord-Tenant Act (RCW 59.18.290), owners may not evict residential tenants without a court order, which can be issued by a court only after the tenant has an opportunity in a show cause hearing to contest the eviction (RCW 59.18.380). Owners of housing units shall not evict or attempt to evict any tenant, refuse to renew or continue a tenancy after expiration of the rental agreement, or otherwise terminate or attempt to terminate the tenancy of any tenant unless the owner can prove in court that just cause exists. Owners may not evict residential tenants from rental housing units if the units are not licensed with the city of Auburn as required by Chapter 5.22 ACC, regardless of whether just cause for eviction may exist. An owner is in compliance with licensing requirement if the rental housing unit is licensed with the city of Auburn pursuant to Chapter 5.22 ACC before entry of a court order authorizing eviction or before a writ of restitution is granted. A court may grant a continuance in an eviction action in order to give the owner time to license the rental housing unit. The reasons for termination of tenancy listed below, and no others, shall constitute just cause under this section:

1. The tenant fails to comply with a 14-day notice to pay rent or vacate pursuant to RCW 59.12.030(3); a 10-day notice to comply or vacate pursuant to RCW 59.12.030(4); or a three-day notice to vacate for waste, nuisance (including a drug-related activity nuisance pursuant to Chapter 7.43 RCW), or maintenance of an unlawful business or conduct pursuant to RCW 59.12.030(5);

2. The tenant habitually fails to pay rent when due which causes the owner to notify the tenant in writing of late rent four or more times in a 12-month period;

3. The tenant fails to comply with a 10-day notice to comply or vacate that requires compliance with a material term of the rental agreement or that requires compliance with a material obligation under RCW 59.18.130;

4. The tenant habitually fails to comply with the material terms of the rental agreement which causes the owner to serve a 10-day notice to comply or vacate three or more times in a 12-month period;

5. The owner seeks possession so that the owner or a member of his or her immediate family may occupy the unit as that person’s principal residence and no substantially equivalent unit is vacant and available in the same building, and the owner has given the tenant at least 90 days’ advance written notice of the date the tenant’s possession is to end. The director of community development may reduce the time required to give notice to no less than 60 days if the director of community development determines that delaying occupancy will result in a personal hardship to the owner or to the owner’s immediate family. Personal hardship may include but is not limited to hardship caused by illness or accident, unemployment, or job relocation. There is a rebuttable presumption of a violation of this subsection if the owner or a member of the owner’s immediate family fails to occupy the unit as that person’s principal residence for at least 60 consecutive days during the 90 days immediately after the tenant vacated the unit pursuant to a notice of termination or eviction using this subsection as the cause for eviction;

6. The owner elects to sell a dwelling unit subject to the provisions of this chapter and gives the tenant at least 90 days’ written notice prior to the date set for vacating, which date shall coincide with the end of the term of a rental agreement, or if the agreement is month to month, with the last day of a monthly period. The director of community development may reduce the time required to give notice to no less than 60 days if the director of community development determines that providing 90 days’ notice will result in a personal hardship to the owner. Personal hardship may include but is not limited to hardship caused by illness or accident, unemployment, or job relocation. For the purposes of this subsection, an owner “elects to sell” when the owner makes reasonable attempts to sell the dwelling within 30 days after the tenant has vacated, including, at a minimum, listing it for sale at a reasonable price with a realty agency or advertising it for sale at a reasonable price in a newspaper of general circulation. There shall be a rebuttable presumption that the owner did not intend to sell the unit if:

a. Within 30 days after the tenant has vacated, the owner does not list the single-family dwelling unit for sale at a reasonable price with a realty agency or advertise it for sale at a reasonable price in a newspaper of general circulation, or

b. Within 90 days after the date the tenant vacated or the date the property was listed for sale, whichever is later, the owner withdraws the rental unit from the market, rents the unit to someone other than the former tenant, or otherwise indicates that the owner does not intend to sell the unit;

7. The tenant’s occupancy is conditioned upon employment on the property and the employment relationship is terminated;

8. The owner seeks to do substantial rehabilitation in the building and gives the tenant at least 120 days’ written notice prior to the date set for vacating. To utilize this basis as the rationale for termination, the owner must obtain at least one permit necessary for the rehabilitation before terminating the tenancy;

9. The owner elects to demolish the building, convert it to a cooperative, or convert it to a nonresidential use and gives the tenant at least 120 days’ written notice prior to the date set for vacating. To utilize this basis as the rationale for termination, the owner must obtain a permit necessary to demolish or change the use before terminating any tenancy or converting the building to a condominium;

10. The owner seeks to discontinue use of a housing unit unauthorized by ACC Title 18 after receipt of a notice of violation;

11. The owner seeks to reduce the number of individuals residing in a dwelling unit to comply with the maximum limit of individuals allowed to occupy one dwelling unit as required by ACC Titles 15 and 18, and:

i. The number of such individuals was more than is lawful under the current version of ACC Title 15 or 18, and

ii. That number has not increased with the knowledge or consent of the owner, and

iii. The owner is either unwilling or unable to obtain a permit to allow the unit with that number of residents; and

b. The owner has served the tenants with a 30-day notice, informing the tenants that the number of tenants exceeds the legal limit and must be reduced to the legal limit; and

c. After expiration of the 30-day notice, the owner has served the tenants with and the tenants have failed to comply with a 10-day notice to comply with the limit on the number of occupants or vacate; and

d. If there is more than one rental agreement for the unit, the owner may choose which agreements to terminate; provided, that the owner may either terminate no more than the minimum number of rental agreements necessary to comply with the legal limit on the number of occupants, or, at the owner’s option, terminate only those agreements involving the minimum number of occupants necessary to comply with the legal limit;

12. An emergency order requiring that the housing unit be vacated and closed has been issued pursuant to ACC Title 15 and the emergency conditions identified in the order have not been corrected;

13. The owner seeks to discontinue sharing with a tenant of the owner’s own housing unit, i.e., the unit in which the owner resides, seeks to terminate the tenancy of a tenant of an accessory dwelling unit that is accessory to the housing unit in which the owner resides, or seeks to terminate the tenancy of a tenant in a single-family dwelling unit and the owner resides in an accessory dwelling unit on the same lot. This subsection does not apply if the owner has received a notice of violation of the development standards of ACC Title 19;

14. A tenant, or with the consent of the tenant, the tenant’s subtenant, sublessee, resident, or guest, has engaged in criminal activity on the premises, or on the property or public right-of-way abutting the premises, and the owner has specified in the notice of termination the crime alleged to have been committed and the general facts supporting the allegation, and has assured that the department has recorded receipt of a copy of the notice of termination. For purposes of this subsection a person has “engaged in criminal activity” if he or she:

a. Engages in drug-related activity that would constitute a violation of Chapter 69.41, 69.50, or 69.52 RCW; or

b. Engages in activity that is a crime under the laws of this state, but only if the activity substantially affects the health or safety of other tenants or the owner.

B. Any rental agreement provision which waives or purports to waive any right, benefit or entitlement created by this section shall be deemed void and of no lawful force or effect.

C. With any termination notices required by law, owners terminating or refusing to renew or continue a tenancy protected by this section shall advise the affected tenant or tenants in writing of the reasons for the termination and the facts in support of those reasons.

D. If a tenant who has received a notice of termination or nonrenewal of tenancy claiming subsection (A)(5), (A)(6) or (A)(13) of this section as the grounds for termination believes that the owner does not intend to carry out the stated reason for eviction and makes a complaint to the director of community development, then the owner must, within 10 days of being notified by the director of community development of the complaint, complete and file with the director of community development a certification stating the owner’s intent to carry out the stated reason for the eviction. The failure of the owner to complete and file such a certification after a complaint by the tenant shall be a defense for the tenant in an eviction action based on this ground.

E. In any action commenced to evict, refuse to renew or continue a tenancy after expiration of the rental agreement, or to otherwise terminate the tenancy of any tenant, it shall be a defense to the action that there was no just cause for such eviction or termination as provided in this section.

F. It shall be a violation of this section for any owner to evict or attempt to evict any tenant, refuse to renew or continue a tenancy after expiration of the rental agreement, or otherwise terminate or attempt to terminate the tenancy of any tenant using a notice which references subsection (A)(5), (A)(6), (A)(8), (A)(11), (A)(12) or (A)(13) of this section as grounds for eviction or termination of tenancy without fulfilling or carrying out the stated reason for or condition justifying the termination of such tenancy.

G. An owner who evicts or attempts to evict a tenant, refuses to renew or continue a tenancy after expiration of the rental agreement, or who terminates or attempts to terminate the tenancy of a tenant using a notice which references subsection (A)(5), (A)(6) or (A)(8) of this section as the grounds for eviction or termination of tenancy without fulfilling or carrying out the stated reason for or condition justifying the termination of such tenancy shall be liable to such tenant in a private right for action for damages up to $2,000, costs of suit, or arbitration and reasonable attorney’s fees. (Ord. 6786 § 1, 2020.)