Wash. Supreme Court published opinion — 901791.pdf

general rule that where rent is paid on a monthly basis, a lease of indefinite

duration is presumed to be month to month. RCW 59.04.020. But that rule is a

presumption used when interpreting leases that do not comply with the statute of

frauds. Labor Hall, 24 Wn.2d at 94. The fact that MHLTA leases are subject to a

different interpretative presumption has no bearing on whether they are subject to

the statute of frauds in the first place. This does not mean that every MHL TA

lease must comply with the statute of frauds-it means that a MI--IL T A lease that

does not comply with the statute of frauds is presumptively a one-year lease.

Finally, the MHL TA also provides that landlords must renew leases upon

their annual expiration unless one of the statutorily enumerated causes for

termination or nonrenewal is met. RCW 59.20.070(5), .080(1), .090(1). The

MHLTA thus contemplates a presumptive lease term of one year (which is clearly

enforceable under RCW 59.04.01 0) and adds a qualified statutory (not absolute

contractual) right to renewal. It does not transform every MHL T A lease into a

year-to-year agreement whose specific provisions must be renewed in perpetuity.

In fact, a landlord acting in good faith has the right to modify the provisions of a

4
             
Western Plaza, LLC v. Tison, No. 90179-1
Yu, J. (dissenting)

lease upon renewal so long as the modifications are not retaliatory and otherwise

comply with the MHLTA's content and notice provisions. See RCW 59.20.020,

.060, .070(5), .090(2); Seashore Villa Ass 'n v. Hagglund Family Ltd. P 'ship, 163

Wn. App. 531, 540-42, 260 P.3d 906 (2011); McGahuey v. Hwang, 104 Wn. App.