provides for attorney costs and fees and double damages if the violation is willful. Id. at
548-49; RCW 59.18.280(2). The RLTA also contains an anti-waiver provision,
prohibiting leases from contracting away the rights established by the statute. RCW
59.18.230(1). These provisions all “demonstrate the importance of statutes that impose
strict obligations and meaningful remedies to hold landlords accountable to respecting
tenants’ rights.” Silver, 197 Wn.2d at 548. Such protections are “especially critical for
renters experiencing poverty, for whom the security deposit and other moving expenses
often exceed monthly income.” Id. at 547.
Against this legal backdrop, Gebreseralse argues that the RLTA prohibits
provisions that require tenants to forfeit the security deposit if they abandon a lease.
She claims that forfeiture of the security deposit is improperly imposed as a remedy for
abandonment of the lease outside the statutorily permissible remedies provided by the
RLTA. We agree.
The RLTA establishes specific remedies available to the landlord when a tenant
abandons the lease:
8
For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.
No. 82976-9-I/9