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Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — D2 53352-9-II Published Opinion.pdf

Citation
Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — D2 53352-9-II Published Opinion.pdf
Jurisdiction
Washington (state)
Source
Official source

Full Text

1,756 chars
increases to annually and it fails to set forth the amount of any rent increase or the formula upon

which the rent increase will be calculated. Therefore, because the rental agreement fails to limit

the frequency of rent increases and fails to set forth the specific amount of increase or a formula

upon which to calculate an increase, the provision in Lane’s rental agreement allowing for rent

increases violates former RCW 59.20.060(2)(c) and is unenforceable. See Jordan v. Nationstar

Mortg., LLC, 185 Wn.2d 876, 883, 374 P.3d 1195 (2016); W. Plaza, LLC, 180 Wn. App. at 23.

Because the provision regarding rent increases in Lane’s rental agreement is unenforceable,

TST cannot rely on that provision to justify its interim rent increases. TST could only increase

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No. 53352-9-II

Lane’s rent at the expiration of his rental term under former RCW 59.20.090(2). The ALJ properly

granted summary judgment.

2. Rent Increases Under Gosney’s, Simoni’s, and Stickley’s Implied Agreements

TST argues that because implied rental agreements for Gosney, Simoni, and Stickley were

for a duration of one year, midterm rent increases were not prohibited. However, because these

arguments are based on TST’s interpretation of former RCW 59.20.090(2), which we have rejected

above, we disagree.

Where a mobile home space does not have a written rental agreement, the agreement is

considered an “implied rental agreement” for a period of one year, renewed automatically for one

year. Gillette, 68 Wn. App. at 842. Further, a rental agreement exists where tenants live in a

mobile park and provide rent to the landlord while using the mobile park based on rules provided