(3)(a) 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 ....
(e) Displaced tenants shall be entitled to recover any relocation
assistance, prepaid deposits, and prepaid rent required by (b) of this
subsection. In addition, displaced tenants shall be entitled to recover
any actual damages sustained by them as a result of the condemnation,
eviction, or displacement that exceed the amount of relocation
assistance that is payable ....
(Emphasis added.) As the majority notes, the RL TA contains no definition of
"actual damages," so whether the RL TA authorizes displaced tenants to recover
emotional distress damages sustained as a result of their displacement is a matter of
statutory interpretation.
3
Segura v. Cabrera, No. 90088-4
(Gordon McCloud, J., Concurring in Result)
III. THE LEGISLATURE DECIDED THAT TENANTS CAN RECOVER "ANY
ACTUAL DAMAGES" "[I]N ADDITION" TO THE LISTED AMOUNTS; THIS
LANGUAGE Is BROAD AND UNAMBIGUOUS
A. The Majority's Holding Conflicts with the Statute's Plain Language
The plain statutory language of the RLT A gives displaced tenants the right to
recover "any actual damages sustained by them as a result of the ... displacement,"
"[i]n addition" to economic damages specifically enumerated in the statute