If a governmental agency responsible for the enforcement of a building,
housing, or other appropriate code has notified the landlord that a dwelling
will be condemned or will be unlawful to occupy due to the existence of
conditions that violate applicable codes, statutes, ordinances, or regulations,
a landlord, who knew or should have known of the existence of these
conditions, shall be required to pay relocation assistance to the displaced
tenants.
RCW 59.18.085(3)(a). The statute sets the amount of relocation assistance ($2,000 or
three times the monthly rent, whichever is greater), notes other damages the tenant is
entitled to from the landlord, specifies how payment to the tenant is to be made, sets a
time frame for such payments, and authorizes the governmental entity to step in anq
advance the relocation assistance to the displaced tenant if the landlord fails to meet the
statutory time schedule for such payments. 3 The statute also provides a time limit in
3
Subsections (3)(b) and (c) provide:
(b) Relocation assistance provided to displaced tenants under this
subsection shall be the greater amount of two thousand dollars per dwelling unit
or three times the monthly rent. In addition to relocation assistance, the landlord
shall be required to pay to the displaced tenants the entire amount of any deposit
prepaid by the tenant and all prepaid rent.
(c) The landlord shall pay relocation assistance and any prepaid deposit
and prepaid rent to displaced tenants within seven days of the governmental
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No. 90088-4
which the landlord must reimburse the city for any relocation assistance advancements
that the city has paid the tenant; civil penalties and interest for the landlord's