Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 877801 orderandopinion.pdf

Citation: Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 877801 orderandopinion.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
Source verification: official_capture_completeness_unverified
Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/877801%20orderandopinion.pdf ↗

Related Parts of This Source

1,728 chars

930, 936, 603 P.2d 373 (1979)). “The RLTA specifies numerous duties, rights, and

remedies for landlords and tenants engaged in residential lease agreements.” Id. at

543. The RLTA’s regulations in landlord-tenant law supplanted many common law rules,

“most notably by placing affirmative duties on the landlord.” Id. at 544. In doing so, the

RLTA seeks “‘to protect tenants’ rights by creating incentives for landlords to improve

the quality of rental housing.’” Id. (quoting Christopher W. Sullivan, Forgotten Lessons

from the Common Law, the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, and the

Holdover Tenant, 84 WASH. U. L. REV. 1287, 1312 (2006)). Because it is a “statute[ ] in

derogation of the common law,” the RLTA must be “strictly construed in favor of the

tenant.” Randy Reynolds & Assocs., Inc. v. Harmon, 193 Wn.2d 143, 156, 437 P.3d 677

(2019).

19
For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.
87780-1-I/20

In Silver, our Supreme Court observed that the RLTA creates remedies to protect

tenant interests vulnerable to the power disparity that exists between tenants and

landlords who have the upper hand in housing disputes. 197 Wn.2d at 544, 547-48.

One of the most frequent landlord-tenant disputes deal with tenant complaints of a

landlord’s wrongful retention of damage and security deposits. Id. at 544 (citing William

B. Stoebuck, The Law Between Landlord and Tenant in Washington: Part II, 49 WASH.

L. REV. 1013, 1032 (1974)). In response, the legislature enacted “new and significant

regulation” through the RLTA to specifically address security deposit issues. Id. (citing

Stoebuck, supra, at 1032); see RCW 59.18.260, .270, .280. “Under the RLTA, the